


Aloha

by Bookwormgal



Category: Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Genre: Adventure, Alien Abduction, Alien Character(s), Alien Culture, Alien Planet, Aliens, Color-Based Society, Cute Kids, Destructive Instincts, Don't Underestimate Lilo, Evil Ruler, Experiments, Families of Choice, Family, Formerly Evil Genius, Friendship, Gen, Genetically Engineered Beings, Guilt, Hawaii, Insectoid Aliens, Kidnapping, Loyalty, Names, Ohana, Outer Space, Rebellion, Rescue Missions, Spaceships, Super Intelligence, Technical Explanation for Alien Biology, Turning From Bad To Good, Various Alien Species, Worldbuilding, Worry, kids in peril, living weapon, protective older sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 02:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 40,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3471914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormgal/pseuds/Bookwormgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life was looking up for once. All the cousins have homes, Hamsterviel is in prison, and things are going well for the genetic experiment and the little girl who considers him ohana. But things rarely stay simple for long. News of the human child who commands the loyalty of the deadly experiments and broke through their programming has spread further than expected. And someone wants to make use of Lilo's gifts. They want to use her ability to gain the loyalty of others, especially when it came to living weapons similar to how she did with the cousins. And they don't intend to ask nicely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Typical Morning for the Ohana

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how often I'll be able to update this thing. But I love this movie and I liked most of the sequels and television series. Not the anime since I haven't watched it and I'm heartbroken about the idea of breaking up the pair like that, but at least they were at least nice enough to have a reunion between them in one episode. Anyway, I'm getting off track.
> 
> You can do so much with "Lilo and Stitch" when you think of all the elements provided. You have Tantalog, the language that Stitch and his cousins use in the show with plenty of examples of various phrases and words that can be translated. You have over 600 experiments running around the island, with "Leroy and Stitch" providing the names for all of them if you look during the credits. You have lots of alien species in the United Galactic Federation, along with however many aren't part of the group. You have a little girl as Earth's representative in the Federation, which you know would be a little concerning for the various country leaders on the planet. You could do insane amounts of awesome stuff with all of this. 
> 
> But the focus of the show was always Lilo and Stitch. Which is the way it should be.
> 
> I don't own most of these characters. I wish I did, though. I am also not going to try incorporating the "Stitch" anime series from Japan. I will be using the four movies and the television series that take place in Hawaii. So, please sit back and enjoy my insane journey into yet another fandom.

Even before he opened his eyes, he knew she was already out of their shared room. His sharp ears could no longer hear her breathing and her heart-beating from her bed. And even if her scent clung to practically every inch of the rooftop dome, his equally sharp nose could tell it was not quite strong enough for her to be present. While he preferred to keep her within easy-to-protect distance, especially during that time period when Gantu could still be considered an enemy, he didn't feel too concerned at the moment. There were currently over six hundred formerly-evil experiments, his "cousins," living on the island who would be happy to step in to help her if she was in trouble and they didn't even have any real enemies at the moment who were free to hurt her. They were either converted to good or were in prison. Not to mention she was currently in the kitchen trying to convince Pleakley that the extremely sugar-filled cereal was a reasonable breakfast choice and that Nani was being ridiculous about not having it every morning. Keeping track of her was thankfully easy to accomplish with sensitive enough ears. He could probably locate her in a pitch-black cave using only his hearing to navigate.

Deciding it was probably time to go down and join the rest of the ohana, he opened his eyes and slipped off his bunk. Anyone who lived off the island would have stared at his appearance, absolutely certain that no Earth creature could ever look this… alien. Nearly three feet six inches tall on his hind legs and with enormous ears that would make a bat proud, he was covered in blue fur that would be impossible to ignore. Sharp claws on his hands, a large and keen nose, black eyes, and teeth that reminded some beach-goers of a shark, he tended to draw stares and unnerve those not used to his presence. Somehow, most humans were willing to uncertainly accept the identity of his species as a "dog." Of course, his natural shape would ruin even that uneasy acceptance since no canine on Earth could sprout an extra set of limbs, antennas, and spikes along their back on cue. But that was the key detail. Even though he might be on Earth now and had even spent most of his life here so far, he wasn't _from_ the planet.

He was Experiment 626. Created by the evil genius, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, as his ultimate masterpiece and the culmination of his work on the previous experiments, he was designed and built as the ultimate living weapon to destroy. The sheer attention to detail was rather impressive and he'd read enough of the doctor's files to be very familiar with them.

Everything about him was intended to make him the most powerful tool for utter destruction possible. His bones contained a mixture of titanium and iron rather than merely calcium and phosphate compounds to ensure they could withstand the impact and forces such a creature would encounter and they were essentially unbreakable while his joints were flexible enough to never hinder his movement even when he rolled into a ball. His individual muscle cells contained compressed myofibril to increase the speed of muscle contraction along with simply being made of sterner material than what is generally found in living creatures. They were so efficient that he could lift three thousand times his body weight. His skin and fur contained several durable polymers that left him fireproof and bulletproof while still remaining fluffy. His claws could rip through most common metals and leave slashes across the same clear materials used to craft the windows of spaceships or containment units that most would call impervious to damage. His teeth and jaws were equally powerful, tearing and crushing most materials including stone, wood, plastic, glass, and weaker metals.

In his natural form, he possessed a second set of arms of equal strength and dexterity as his first set, but with the unique features to his anatomy to allow their presence to be used as a surprise during an attack. Technically, he had two sets of shoulders: one below his neck and another pseudo-shoulder in his mid body. When the extra arms retracted, two sets of muscles alternated tensing and releasing to enable the lower arms to slide along the groove into a resting position inside. Thus, his second set of arms could be hidden inside his body so that an opponent would remain ignorant of their presence until it was too late. The spikes along his back were equally retractable, making it even more difficult to attack from behind.

His senses were extremely acute so that nothing in his environment would escape his notice. His ears could detect sounds in a rather impressive range of frequencies and volumes even at a distance to the point where it could practically serve as sonar. His sense of smell would allow him to trace certain scents back to their source up to ten miles away in the right circumstances. His eyes were among the most versatile however. He could see in the dark, his large eyes able to make use of even the faintest traces of light to navigate his surroundings. Along with the normal visible spectrum, he could see both ultraviolet and infrared light. Even more useful was that he could easily filter through these different wavelengths so he could focus on the more important details without distractions. One of his less commonly-used senses was connected to his retractable antennas. They allowed him to detect, transmit, and receive various signals such as radar, radio, and microwave energy as a discrete method of communication and jamming other signals, which also enabled him to act as a audio amplifier for other sources of information such as a vinyl records. Unfortunately, the preferred frequency for his antennas was 2.5GHz, coincidentally the same as a microwave oven. This meant that if he happened to have his antennas out at the same time someone was using the device nearby, his senses tended to be flooded with an extremely infuriating amount of feedback.

But the key aspect to making the perfect living weapon was the mind. In the words of his creator, he could think faster than a supercomputer. His mind was a detailed information repository, though not quite as extensive as Jumba's. He could calculate and recognize the most efficient way to destroy a target, operate and hotwire nearly any vehicle he might lay his hands on, program and hack any computer, and solve any problem that might try to hinder his efforts.

He could understand and speak a number of different languages and sub-dialects, though he wasn't quite as talented as his cousin Reuben. His mind was wired specifically for Tantalog though and he tended to use that language as a default. His range of languages wasn't too surprising since most of the species who took part in the United Galactic Federation spoke multiple languages for practicality's sake and Tantalog was a popular secondary one for many populations due to its history as a native tongue for a supremely advance yet now-extinct civilization and was still in use for a few other scattered planets. According to the private files he wasn't supposed to hack into about his creator's past, Jumba even grew up in an area of Kweltikwan that spoke it fluently and he didn't learn the more wide-spread Standard until he was older and about to start Evil Genius University. It only made sense that he would use his native language as the default choice for his experiments.

His learning curve was intense, allowing him to gain any knowledge he didn't possess swiftly. Of course, there's a difference between knowing something because you are given the information and using it properly in reality, but that could be dealt with by gaining experience and his detailed memory of his life assisted in maintaining the lessons learned by practice.

And all of his physical and mental capabilities were crafted in order to make the best use of the sole instinct his creator gave him, the only purpose intended for the experiment. To destroy everything. Granted, there were a few specifics to help direct his efforts. He would be drawn to large cities, back up sewers, reverse street signs, and steal everyone's left shoe. But everything boiled down to destruction. Experiment 626 was intended to destroy whatever he touched and to be unstoppable, no more and no less.

Of course, not even the plans of an evil genius can go perfectly all the time. The United Galactic Federation showed up at the worst possible time, arresting the evil genius and trying to take the newly created experiment in as evidence. The first time they didn't even manage to get him very far before he slipped away since they didn't know what they were dealing with. The second time they did succeed in bringing him to Turo for Jumba's trial, destroying the scientist's hope of getting out of trouble due to lack of evidence. But the second escape allowed him to get even further away and find what he didn't even know he was missing.

He wasn't just Experiment 626 anymore, the weapon with the sole purpose of destruction and a monster accidentally unleashed upon the universe. His name was Stitch. He had something more than just his programming to guide him now. He possessed a home, an ohana, and somewhere he truly belonged. All Jumba's hard work to create the perfect force for evil was essentially tossed aside now that he knew what he wanted out of life. Oddly, the scientist didn't seem overly-upset by the supposed waste of his creation's potential, adding evidence to Stitch's theory that he was more fond of the _concept_ of evil and the possibilities it offered than he was of the realities of true evil. Regardless, he'd become far more than an experiment, a tool for destruction. He had his own identity and capability to choose whether or not to fulfill his original function. And he owed everything to the girl downstairs.

There was technically an elevator that connected the rooftop dome to the rest of the house installed by Jumba, but Stitch didn't bother using it half the time anyway. The blue-furred experiment simply climbed down the shaft, clinging to the surface without effort. There was a reason Pleakley tended to complain about having to clean footprints off the ceiling and walls.

While the rooftop dome might have a practical and plain style to it that was reminiscent of a spacecraft, the rest of the house felt cozy and warm. Not to say that the room he shared didn't have personal touches, such as her photographs, some books, the decorative lamp, and her doll, Scrump. It was just that the rest of the house seemed more complete. The furniture, the decorations, the colors, and the general atmosphere just seemed to make Stitch feel good. When he first arrived, he couldn't really identify the feeling and he'd been more concern with how much force it would take to break the items to fragments, but he now knew the place felt like ohana. It was home to a close-knit, albeit unusual ohana and he was part of it. The kitchen, the living room, and the rest of the house was a space for the entire family while the rooftop dome was just for the two of them. It only made sense that a space for the whole ohana would feel more home-like.

Three figures were currently in the kitchen. Nani, the dark-haired adult human woman of the family, was already left for her job apparently. The fact she was already gone was further proof that he'd slept in that morning.

The first of the remaining trio was sitting at the table, drinking from an oversized mug while chuckling over some blueprints. Dressed in a colorful shirt, the purple-and-pink-skinned, four-eyed, nearly-bald Kweltikwan was probably one of the smartest individuals in the galaxy. After all, Dr. Jumba Jookiba did manage to create all the experiments currently living on the island, not to mention inventing time travel using a surfboard as the base. It was rather interesting that someone who still called himself an evil genius could be happy living on a relatively low-tech planet. But, like all the members of the family, he found that he truly belonged here. His so-called evilness wasn't quite as evident these days except for the occasional maniacal laugh or his attempts to make a new experiment.

The second was leafing through the local newspaper, dressed in an orange muumuu and cheerfully commenting on various aspects of the human culture that he found to be fascinating. Thin, greenish-yellow, one-eyed, tripedal, and in possession of two purple tongues and a single antenna on top of his head, the Plorgonarian was certainly content living on the planet due to considering himself an Earth expert. Of course, Agent Wendy Pleakley didn't arrive in Hawaii with the initial intention of remaining, but circumstances left him and Jumba as roommates and now Stitch doubted he would leave even when the option was offered. True, he did want to share his knowledge with the rest of the universe, but he'd already given up a position at Galactic Alliance Community College. Perhaps he would write a book about it someday. Judging by the reactions from the human members of the ohana to some of the things his "research" suggested about Earth, however, he was a little suspicious about how much Pleakley would say that would actually be correct.

The third member at the table, shoveling her cereal while studying the back of the box, was a human child with black hair and brown eyes. She looked like just another native of the island, though one most of the locals tended to consider eccentric. She was also one of the most important people in his life. Lilo was the one who gave him everything; she was the reason he was more than just a living weapon. Her explanation of ohana and the story of the Ugly Duckling that first night was the point where Stitch stopped seeing her as a useful shield to keep from being captured and as someone special that he couldn't even consider allowing to be harmed by anyone.

Of course, that made it all the worse when he started glitching sporadically after joining the ohana and accidentally scratched her. Stitch would've rather jumped in the ocean without a surfboard than hurt her. He didn't mean it and he couldn't help it. Everyone told him that repeatedly, including Lilo who also apologized repeatedly for not realizing something was wrong with him. Luckily, he didn't directly attack her apparently. One of his arms just managed to graze her when the glitch caused his limbs to flail. It still knocked her down. It still left a scratch across her cheek. She and the rest of humanity were so fragile, so utterly and terrifyingly fragile. And if he'd gone after her directly…

No, he wasn't going to think about that. He wouldn't do such a thing on purpose and he was fixed now so he shouldn't glitch like that ever again. Besides, thinking about all the horrible possibilities was not the best thing to do first thing in the morning.

Dropping down from the ceiling into a chain beside her, he managed to startle Pleakley into shouting in response to the experiment's unexpected arrival. This caused Lilo to smile and Jumba to chuckle in amusement. Stitch couldn't help grinning himself as the Plorgonarian tried to calm back down. Perhaps not as satisfying in some ways as smashing the table to splinters, tossing the dishes against the wall to break them into ceramic fragments, and crushing the cereal into a soggy mess, but startling Pleakley was more acceptable than most of his destructive desires. Though it would have been nice to see the wood cracking and to hear the glass shattering…

"Morning, Stitch," Lilo greeted. "Sleep well?"

"Ih," he nodded, reaching over for his bowl of cereal that was already waiting for him.

Still glaring at him over the minor scare, Pleakley grumbled, "Apparently the little monster was overly tired from his efforts to drive us all crazy and stayed in bed for a while."

"Or perhaps Little Girl and 626 was busy reading new book of aesthetic repairs failing after Bigger Girl said for you to be sleeping?" suggested Jumba, glancing up briefly from his blueprints.

"I've been waiting forever for the sequel to 'Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong.' It has a whole chapter on noses," she pointed out. "And Stitch liked the pictures of the one guy who underwent liposuction. The one where they vacuumed out all the fat, but his skin was still really loose and dangling off him like he was wearing an oversized shirt."

The blue-furred experiment chuckled, "Ih. Skin flappy. Like flag."

Somehow Pleakley's complexion turned more green than yellow and he pushed away what remained of his breakfast with a whispered, "I think I just lost my appetite."

"Oketaka," shrugged Stitch, snatching up the Plorgonarian's bowl and dumped the contents into his open mouth.

"That doesn't mean you can steal it," he complained.

"It go to waste otherwise," pointed out Jumba.

Rolling his eye, Pleakley muttered, "Fine. Help yourself." As Stitch proceeded to drag his tongue across the dish in order to enjoy every tasty morsel, he asked, "Since you don't have hula class today or school, what's your plan for the day, Lilo?"

The experiment stopped eating long enough to turn towards the girl. While hula class was usually short enough to tolerate and could even be fun if he was allowed to watch or participate, school was just a boring distraction from his time with Lilo. Far too many days a week for far too many hours in his opinion, she was gone and he was stuck trying to entertain himself until her return. Granted, he spent some of that time visiting Angel sometimes. And, yes, Lilo brought him for Show and Tell once and he got to attend her class long enough to draw a diagram of the Turo system to show off before he accidentally caused the front desk to split in half while moving it. Now he wasn't allowed near the school. Honestly, there were times he wished she didn't have to go. It wasn't like he or Jumba couldn't teach her anything she might need to know about math and science. They could definitely teach her more than the instructor with the fragile furniture and no knowledge of the mechanics of long-distance space travel. Of course, she still needed someone for the boring stuff like Earth history since Pleakley wasn't quite as well-informed on those topics as he might believe. So Stitch was forced to admit school was something that would have to be endured. That didn't mean he didn't strongly prefer the time Lilo was free to spend with him.

"David told me that he would take me and Stitch surfing later and I was thinking we could check on Yin, Yang, and Cannonball while we're there," the girl stated, taking another bite of her cereal. "They're predicting some _huge_ waves today, even without the help of 520."

Nani and David were complicated in Stitch's opinion. The young man was part of the ohana, there was no doubt about that. The fire twirling individual spent movie nights with them, played with Lilo in his spare time, and went out on dates and not-dates with the older girl. Everyone knew they would eventually get married. And by "everyone," he meant every human, alien, and experiment on the island. It wouldn't be that surprising if even Cobra Bubbles was quietly wondering when they would just hurry up. Of course, even after meeting Angel, Stitch couldn't claim to truly understand romance or love. And just asking why Nani didn't just marry David and have him move into the house would probably spark the older girl's temper or just leave her claiming it was complicated.

"That sounds like fun," remarked Pleakley. "After I finish repairing your hula outfit, there was a fascinating Earth tradition I'm planning to investigate in greater detail. Are you familiar with this Daylight Savings Time concept?"

Chuckling slightly, Lilo answered, "Sort of. It probably isn't what you think it is."

"Tried to tell him that already, but he isn't to be listening to me," muttered Jumba.

"And I told you I know what I'm doing. Who's the Earth expert here?"

Shaking her head in amusement, the girl remarked, "Well, have fun anyway and mahalo about my hula outfit. I'll try to change clothes after class the next time Stitch and I re-enact a scene from the Wasp Mummy movies."

"Well, I would certainly appreciate it. It isn't that easy getting mud out and fixing the torn out sections," commented Pleakley. "Rolling down the hill to 'escape from the undead insect menace' seems to do a lot of damage when you hit the ditch at the bottom apparently."

Smiling sheepishly, Lilo nodded and turned towards the blue-furred experiment, "Come on, Stitch. We have some waves to catch and David's probably already waiting."

Gulping down what remained of the cereal in his own bowl, Stitch leapt out of the chair and scurried over to her excitedly. He knew that Jumba was still mildly baffled by the experiment's fascination and enjoyment of surfing. After all, it was an entire activity that relied on water and the traits that made him practically indestructible also made him sink like a rock. Stitch knew exactly how vulnerable to drowning he was and possessed a perfectly-understandable dread of the hazardous material whenever he encountered more than could be contained in a water balloon. But surfing was just too much fun. Everything about it was exciting and he couldn't resist it. Part of it might even be _because_ of the danger of trying, just like humans would engage in skydiving even if they weren't durable enough for the impact if something went wrong. Every single time he climbed on a surfboard, he ran the risk of drowning and yet it was too much fun to stay on the shore. Besides, Stitch trusted Lilo and David to help him if he was knocked off the board and his balance was good enough to keep him on most of the time anyway.

"Ih," he grinned at her. "We surf now."

* * *

To say that Dr. Jacques von Hamsterviel was unhappy sitting in his mostly-empty cell would be an understatement. His various attempts at galactic domination had been thwarted by a child of a primitive species and the genetic experiment that once represented the highest achievement of the Galaxy Defense Industries in general and Dr. Jumba Jookiba specifically. Okay, 626 was probably still the greatest creation of Jumba since 627 and Leroy unfortunately each possessed a crippling flaw that left them useless. That did little to improve the rodent-like being's mood since he still didn't like losing to something that should have been his weapon. If only he waited a little longer to turn Jumba over to the Federation Council, he might have grabbed the little monster for himself before the little Earth girl could ruin him. Circumstances forced his hand however and thus he lost the opportunity to possess the experiments for his own purposes.

While his continued defeat by the two individuals and their companions was certainly a large part of his state of frustration, along with being imprisoned, it was not the only contributing factor. He'd spent the last three years in confinement after all, depending on the incompetent Gantu to fulfill the mission to gain the experiments and hiding the elaborate technology that kept him connected to the rest of the galaxy. The same technology, he might add, that kept his prison sentence from being that problematic to his goals. Jail was not enough to stop his efforts to take over. Unfortunately, his short-lived victory to rule over everyone resulted in him back in prison, but with some notable and frustrating changes. His useless lackey was turned into an ally for the little Earth girl and the experiment and he'd regained his old role as Captain of the Galactic Armada. And that meant the grey-skinned buffoon spilt all Hamsterviel's secrets to the Federation Council, including all of his modifications to his last prison cell. Thus, he was far more trapped than ever before.

Not one to give up easily, the white-furred being was in the process of reconstructing his old systems. He might not be the one who could play with genes to create creatures who possessed the power to produce fireballs, ice, electricity, ear-piercing shrieks, black holes, or amazing sandwiches, but he did attend the Evil Genius University with Jumba. He was an expert at arranging shady business deals for funds to make such experiments possible and discretely converting technology to more suitable purposes, including turning the security system of a prison cell into a workable lair. And if he could do it once, he could do it again.

Placing the final red wire in the right spot on his creation and completing the connection, the small intergalactic communicator produced a soft beep and came online. Hamsterviel smirked and glanced out the clear side of his cell to ensure that the guards were still absent. This particular prison block was mostly filled with Leroy clones that were now essentially useless unless music was playing and didn't do much even then. Since he was the only one who could cause trouble in this corner of the prison, the guards tended to check on him more often than he liked and definitely slowed down his progress. At the moment, however, he seemed to be alone.

Dialing the device up, Hamsterviel sent out an inquiry towards all of his old contacts or help. Just because Gantu turned against him didn't mean that everyone abandoned him. Business associates, made over the twenty-five years he worked with Jumba, might be willing to help him for the right price. If he found someone still willing to speak to him while he rested in prison, the white-furred being might be able to wrangle a deal to have them break him out.

In a surprisingly short amount of time, the object beeped and a voice greeted, "Dr. Hamsterwheel, it has been quite some time."

"Hamster _viel_ ," he snapped automatically. "My name is Hamster _viel_."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the rodent-like entity realized exactly who'd responded to his request for help. Her image was on screen, staring at him intently. The basic description for her and her species was similar to that of the Earth insect, a praying mantis. Her head was certainly the appropriate triangular shape and the large yellow-green eyes with the tiny pupils matched. Her twin antennas curled above her head on either side of a gold crown. A white cape was tied around her small neck, but the rest of her body wasn't visible on the small screen. Still, the red coloration was enough to identify which member of the species he was addressing, even if the crown didn't prove it.

"Queen Soltus, what a pleasant surprise," he smiled, trying to regain any good favor he might have lost with his previous outburst. "How are things in your end of the galaxy?"

"The Swarm progresses, taking two new worlds since last we spoke," she replied. "Am I correct in my understanding that you require assistance?"

"Yes," Hamsterviel acknowledged. "Perhaps someone with as much smart-like smartness as you might be willing to spare a few of your undefeatable warriors to help break my trapped person out of this imprisoning prison?"

If she agreed to such a request, this might be the ideal way to deal with the situation. The Entolyterians, or "the Swarm," were a species that originally occupied a pleasant-enough planet called Entolytera, but now ruled over dozens of worlds. Neither they nor their conquered worlds were part of the United Galactic Federation. They possessed no interest in joining and obeying the laws that governed the collection of systems, but they also did not wish to draw the anger of the Untied Galactic Federation by starting a war with them. _Yet_. But battles and taking over other worlds was a large portion of the species' purpose and there were more than enough worlds out there who didn't have that protection. The war-like tendencies of the Swarm was why they served as one of his "shady business deals" in the past. The promise of genetic experiments designed for destruction was a tempting offer for a people based on conquering other worlds. That was also why they would be helpful for breaking him out of his cell. If that brainless fish-face, Gantu, could devise a successful breakout before switching sides, then a small team of highly-trained warriors should have no trouble with it.

"I might be able to arrange something if it becomes necessary," she responded. "But first, I must ask you something important. You promised us that your most talented scientist was just about to complete his greatest work, our perfect living weapon that our funding allowed to be created. It is peculiar that, just before your promised delivery, your United Galactic Federation discovered the project and arrested the scientist. The timing seemed a little too perfect at preventing the agreed upon deal."

Hamsterviel struggled not to react to her subtle accusation. It was true that the timing of Jumba's arrest was too ideal to just be luck. He alerted the authorities in the hopes that it would dissolve the contract with Queen Soltus, allowing him to gain control of the 625 other experiments for his own galactic domination. A double betrayal that would lead to Hamsterviel ruling the federation with a deadly force of genetic living weapons. Even if Jumba's possessions, including the experiment pods, were confiscated by the authorities during the arrest, he could still get them with a bribe or two. It all came apart when 626 escaped to Earth, the scientist was freed to pursue him, and the little girl became involved, however.

"It was troubling," he admitted carefully. "But the arrest _did_ make it impossible to deliver the experiments for your war-like wars against other planets. There was nothing I could do about it."

"But he is no longer in prison," she pointed out sharply. "Nor is he in trouble with the law any longer, from what I understand. Would you like to explain why I still lack the promised experiments, even though you possessed time to provide them before your own arrest?"

Her glare was a little unnerving, especially since she was accusing him of breaking the deal and wasn't wrong about her accusations. But he still needed her help, so Hamsterviel needed to keep on her good side at least until he was free. That meant smoothing out the whole issue of the failed delivery of the experiments they funded.

"I would have brought you them, but it was already too late. Their destructive programming turned into a failing failure due to outside influences. They were rendered utterly useless for their original purpose, even if I could procure them for you at this time."

"I was under the impression that was impossible," commented the insectoid queen. "From what you claimed, they were programmed solely with destructive and aggressive behavior that could not be altered. You promised that all we would need to do would be to turn loose one of the later creations on a populated planet and nothing would stop their attack. Did you overestimate the effectiveness of the experiments? Perhaps I paid too much."

Feeling rather indignant, even if they were mostly Jumba's work, Hamsterviel glared at her slightly, "It is not because of some mistake on our part. They were perfectly perfect until that annoying little Earth girl got involved. There is something about her that allows her to wander around, ruining everything with her ruining-ness. The human girl with the name of Lilo Pelekai. That one. She is a devious and sneaky child. Somehow she ruins them. I don't know how she does it, but she destroys their programming."

Queen Soltus tilted her head slightly, "How curious. Is that a species trait?"

"No, just that one little girl. If she encounters a genetic experiment, then they become loyal to her and no longer follow their destructive programming to cause destruction."

"Can it be replicated?"

Hamsterviel blinked in confusion, staring at the small screen as he tried to decipher her meaning. He didn't expect her to ask a question at that point.

"Can what be replicated?" he asked finally.

"However that young human is able to override the experiments' programming," she clarified. "Can it be replicated? Can we use the same method in order to take over other living weapons for our use? Would it be possible to determine how this 'Lilo Pelekai' gets past the basic programming and to do the same thing ourselves?"

"I… don't know. I never really considered it," he admitted. "I don't know how she does it, so I don't know if we could replicate the resulting results."

"While a genetically-engineered weapon might be useful, the ability to acquire larger numbers and control them is a far more valuable commodity. If we can learn how she gained their loyalty when the experiments should not have the capability to ignore their programming, we should be able to do the same thing. We can regain command of the experiments you promised and others that we might find on other planets. We must learn this skill."

The white-furred prisoner began to feel a shadow of doubt creeping up his spine. This conversation was not going how he'd expected or wanted it to. Somehow he knew his possible escape was slipping through his fingers.

"That is all fine and dandy, but we were discussing how you will be breaking me out of here," he reminded.

"No, we were discussing how you failed to provide the promised experiments. And how we already paid for them," she said sharply. "You owe the Swarm and there is a high cost associated with such a debt." She paused briefly, glancing at something off-screen, before continuing, "Still, this news about the intriguing human child might be worth something. It will require further investigation. If we determine that she and her capabilities are as valuable as I suspect them to be, we shall consider your debt paid. Otherwise, I would suggest you spend your time in that cell contemplating ways to endear yourself to the Swarm so that you do not become one of our targets for destruction."

With that final ominous warning, the screen went black and Hamsterviel was left staring at it in shock. He wasn't quite certain what his actions might lead to, but he suspected one thing.

"I'm not getting out of here, am I?" he asked no one in particular.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lilo and Stitch are so interesting to consider as characters
> 
> Stitch's mind can be broken down into three distinct aspects. One, he's intelligent. Very intelligent. In the words of his creator, he can think faster than a supercomputer. We know he can drive just about anything (and hotwire it). He can make an improvised explosive out of Scrump with objects in the Pelekai household. He can make a plan of escape or how to perform a capture on the fly. He might not be Jumba when it comes to pure brainpower, but he's a lot smarter than the average guy on the street. Two, his only instinct is to destroy everything he touches. Even if he turns good, those instincts have been shown to remain with him. Basically, anything he encounters is a target to be ripped, shredded, crushed, broken, exploded, or simply smashed into pieces. And because he's incredibly smart, he'll know exactly how to destroy whatever he's facing. Even if it is something like Jumba's computer, the couch in the living room, or the arm of a certain little Hawaiian girl that is giving him a hug. Just because he decided not to be a living weapon doesn't mean he forgot all his instincts. He just chooses not to act on them all the time. Three, he's actually fairly young chronologically and emotionally. Judging by what was shown in "Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch" and from Jumba's statements about him lacking any "memories to visit in the middle of the night" in the original movie, he wasn't very old at all by the beginning of the first film. His reactions and behavior is rather similar to a little kid at times, especially his emotional responses. And for all his intelligence, he's inexperienced and his world view is being formed mostly by what Lilo shares with him. She's the one who helped introduce him to the idea of empathy, morality, ohana, and gave him a framework to base his life on other than just his instincts. So she's fulfilled the role of not just his best friend. She's almost like his mother or older sister in an abstract way.
> 
> And while Lilo might be human, she can still be just as impressive in her own way. She was about five or six when she lost her parents and Nani was forced to fulfill that new role. Even at that point, she's shown to be an odd and yet intelligent child (she could use the word "abomination" correctly and seems to read some rather atypical material). Over the next three years, she not only manages to turn a powerful and dangerous living weapon away from his original programming to the point where he's loyal to her to a fault, but she also converts over 600 different experiments to similarly benevolent roles on the island of Kauai and she even has the ability to contact one of the cousins that now serves with the Captain of the Galactic Armada (Rueben and Gantu respectively). A nine year old girl essentially has an army of genetic experimental weapons that she can easily summon up in an emergency along with her loyal ultimate living weapon that lives with her and she is on a first name basis with the commander of another army, this one with space ships. She is also the ambassador for Earth, which in theory means that she has a voice in regards to issues brought up before the council. That's ignoring the friends she's made due to the crossover episodes (such as Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything, and Jake Long, the American Dragon). She might not be as physically dangerous as her "dog," but Lilo has plenty of powerful connections due to her ability to gain ohana wherever she goes and turn evil beings into good without even trying.
> 
> There's lots of technical stuff in this chapter about how Stitch does what he can do, but I hope that doesn't put you off too much. I found most of it from a variety of sources, ranging from the movies and cartoons to websites to an ancient copy of "Disney Adventure Magazine." Anything else, I made up based on that info and guesses. The Entolyterians are my creation. You'll be seeing more of them eventually.
> 
> As for the title, I know that the most common meaning for the word "aloha" is "hello" and "good-bye," but there's another meaning too. Specifically, it is referenced quite a bit in "Leroy and Stitch." They keep talking about "the aloha you give always comes back to you." The third meaning for the word would be "love or affection." That's the meaning that this story's title is referencing. Because there is a great deal of love involved.
> 
> Not all love is romantic love. There's familial love, the love between dear friends, and unconditional love. And I don't care what type of pairing you consider for these characters. There is no way you can deny the love displayed in this ohana.


	2. Sandcastles and Kidnapping

She was a soldier. A guard. An Orange. She fulfilled the duty that the coloration of her exoskeleton assigned her. She was a loyal member of the Swarm. And she would obey any command that the great and glorious Queen Soltus, the only one who deserved a name and individuality, might provide. She would do it without question, serving as an obedient piece of the whole.

Today, she and two other Oranges were going on a stealth-based retrieval mission on a primitive, but hostile planet. An image of the target was obtained from the files of the United Galactic Federation, though most of the available information was left alone to avoid complications. Bringing the attention of the Federation to the Swarm was not a smart idea, so meddling in their files would be kept to a minimum. The coordinates were quickly typed into the computer system of the ship: Quadrant 17, Sector 005, Area 51.

The planet, from what the Orange could observe as their spacecraft drew near, seemed to consist of a mostly water-covered surface with large chunks of land scattered across. Their target, however, should be located on a very small piece of land created by volcanic activity along with a handful of other islands. That would save time since there would be a limit to the area the target could hide. And while the primitive life-forms were unaware of life on other planets, those on the island seemed particular adept at ignoring the presence of extraterrestrials and that would further simplify the mission. The minor issue of the suspected guard on the target would be dealt with if necessary, but the Orange held high hopes that they would succeed and the mission would greatly benefit the Swarm.

But, as she examined the image of a small and squishy biped that they were intending to capture for their queen, she wondered uneasily if the command to kidnap a child could be a mistake.

* * *

David, in Lilo's opinion, was the best person for Nani to marry if a certain big sister would ever hurry up about it. He was already practically ohana, he and Nani clearly liked each other, and she enjoyed spending time with him whenever he managed not to be too busy. Furthermore, he barely blinked at the more unique parts of the ohana. It didn't matter if Jumba was inventing at the kitchen table, Pleakley was trying on a new dress, one of the hundreds of cousins were visiting, or Stitch was climbing across the ceiling. David just shrugged and went along with it. And as a final vote in his favor, he was loads of fun when it came to surfing.

It was always smart for them to surf in a group, so it was probably a great thing that it was more fun to surf with friends than alone anyway. Lilo knew she was getting better at controlling her surfboard over the years and could probably enter some of the contests as she got older, but she also knew that she would never ride alone because it wouldn't be fair. She or David would almost always have Stitch with them.

For a genetic experiment with the buoyancy of a brick, he was surprisingly talented on a surfboard. He was also fairly experienced at staying on the floating object even after a spectacular wipeout. But none of them would ever forget that deep water was something the nearly indestructible experiment couldn't survive. Someone always rode with him or stayed right next to Stitch just in case. And if he wanted to show off on his own, Lilo would ask some of the aquatic cousins to help watch.

After all, Stitch did everything in his power to keep her safe from harm. It was only fair that she did her best to return the favor when given the chance.

Now, coated in salt and sand from a day at the beach, she and Stitch proceeded to construct a small sandcastle on top of the partially-buried David. At least, it was originally a _small_ sandcastle. As she worked on the spaceship landing pad near David's left ear, Stitch was working on the invading army of sand zombies with a gleeful grin across his face. Lilo knew getting the smell of ocean out of his fur would be a nightmare due to his dislike and fear of baths, but a fun day at the beach was worth it.

"Cobra Bubbles visited not too long ago," she chatted casually, shaping the sand with her hands. "He couldn't say too much because of all the classified stuff he isn't supposed to do or know about because he's retired from that, but he really isn't completely retired. But I think he was trying to offer me a job or a class or something about their secret group that deals with aliens. He said they mostly recruit people from jobs with three initials, like the FBI or CIA."

"That sounds exciting," David commented as Stitch covered his toes with a sand sculpture of a miniature catapult.

"It might be fun," she nodded. "Or really boring. Cobra also said I have to wait a few years though. Even if I know more about aliens than most of their recruits, he thinks it might be bad idea for a little kid to join. It'll probably destroy all their self-esteem and leave them feeling vulnerable. So I guess I'll have to wait until I'm thirteen."

"At least you have something to look forward to," the young man said. "Have you talked to Nani about this?"

"Naga," replied Stitch, dusting off some of the sand.

Lilo admitted, "Not yet. There's still loads of time."

"Well, make sure you give her plenty of time to think about it and get used to the idea," David advised, craning his head as much as possible to look at the girl over the growing sand creations. "You know she worries."

Nodding, the dark-haired child shifted her attention to the miniature version of a mad scientist tower for the Frankenstein's Creature she'd just finished. She knew Nani worried. Her sister worried too much sometimes in her opinion. Lilo knew Cobra Bubbles arranged things so the Child Service people could never take her away from Nani. She knew Hamsterviel was in space jail. And she had Stitch to keep her safe from anything else they might run into. She was probably the safest girl on the whole island.

"Lilo," Stitch called, pointing excitedly at the leader of his army of sand zombies.

Leaning in close to the constructed figure, she could see sections of "skin" peeling off and the zombie was carrying his head under his arm. The way she could tell that this sand sculpture was the leader was due to the large hat placed on the decapitated head in the form of a seashell.

"Cool," she grinned as her friend released an evil cackle.

"Shouldn't there be a graveyard for the zombies to come from?" asked David.

"Oh, yeah," said Lilo. "We almost forgot. Maybe we should add one near your knees."

"Naga," Stitch shook his head. "Armpit."

The girl nodded, "Perfect."

* * *

While the scent of sea water was a scent he'd grown extremely used to since his sensitive nose could detect it from most locations on the island and he could now ignore it in favor of more informative smells most of the time, getting some of the ocean soaked into his fur left behind a strong scent that wouldn't leave his nose alone. It was just too close to ignore. He could barely smell Lilo and she was walking beside him. Probably the only reason he could pick up her scent at all at the moment was because it was one of the most familiar and important ones he knew. Even through the overwhelming aroma of salt water in his fur, he knew she smelled like warm sand, cool sea breezes, a fruity shampoo and a duller soap, sugary cereal from breakfast, cheap detergent and cotton from the dress she pulled over her swimsuit, and a warm and comforting scent that was unique to Lilo and pure ohana. He would always recognize her, even when his nose was almost completely swamped by his own salt-water-encrusted fur masking every other scent on the island. Honestly, even if it meant he couldn't smell almost anything else at the moment, he'd had fun on the beach and it was worth it. Besides, it wouldn't take long to get it cleared off.

He still hated baths. He hated and, to be perfectly honest, feared them. Purposefully sitting in a container as the choking substance tried to rise up and swallow him below its depths… Stitch couldn't see why Nani found the things relaxing.

But after hundreds of battles about the necessity of remaining clean, countless times where someone would try dragging him to the bathroom while he climbed every surface possible to avoid such a thing, and Lilo promising repeatedly she would never let him drown, a compromise was reached. He wouldn't take baths, but he would take a shower. While he still wasn't perfectly comfortable with the idea, the water level never rose above his feet and it was no more disturbing than being caught in a rainstorm. He also used a shampoo that smelled the least like fruit, flowers, or various chemicals that the human nose couldn't detect (again, he couldn't figure out how Nani could enjoy her scented bubble baths). At least the new arrangements meant he would be clean with minimal suffering for everyone.

"So we'll stop by Slush's snowcone stand for a snack before heading back home," Lilo remarked casually as they left the beach, the girl pausing briefly to take a picture of a tourist who was strangely wearing socks with his sandals. "That way, we can check on him and Dupe."

"Oketaka," he nodded, grinning.

She hesitated just a moment before adopting her own grin and said, "Hey, why don't we make it a race? Last one there has to help Pleakley clean the living room."

"Goobaja," he laughed in agreement before taking off.

Stitch knew rolling would be easier, but part of the fun of a race was the actual running. Neither he nor Lilo possessed very long legs, but using his front limbs to help run gave him a slight advantage. He ran, scrambling along the walls of buildings or scurrying under people if he encountered an obstacle. The streets were rarely busy with vehicles, but Stitch keeps his ears pricked just in case a car approaches the running and laughing girl who was doing her best to beat him to their goal. Even during a race across the small town, he paid close attention to anything that might accidentally cause her harm. Just because he could easily withstand a large amount of metal smacking into him didn't mean that Lilo could. Of course, she was smart enough not to run in the road when there was traffic, but it didn't hurt anyone for him to pay attention for trouble anyway.

The blue experiment was ahead of her as his mind went over possibilities, cackling to himself while occasionally glancing backwards to where the girl was following. Of course, if a car were to crash somewhere that wouldn't threaten anyone (including the driver), that would be entertaining. Say, for example, if a certain genetic mutant experimentation were to grab several thousand pounds of metal, glass, and rubber tires off the road and swing it into the nearby brick and glass structure with enough force to both crumple the vehicle and shatter the building. He could already picture it. Metal warping, glass cracking and splintering into shards that would quickly sprinkle across the asphalt and concrete, bricks tumbling, and wonderful crashes that would ring in his ears as broken pieces continued to fall long after the initial impact. Screams and shouts from witnesses would add to the noise and, if he did everything perfectly, perhaps a telephone pole could be knocked over so that the wires would be ripped free and sparking electricity along the ground. He could practically feel the metal framework being sliced by his claws, glass shards bouncing off his fur, and crushing brick fragments beneath his steps. His mind was already making the necessary calculation required to know the ideal force, angles, and timing required in order to produce the greatest level of destructive chaos with the present resources. He wouldn't ever do it because Lilo would disapprove and it would be wrong, but the desire remained.

The brief daydream of destruction was abruptly shoved away by a shriek. Other yells of surprise and shock quickly followed, but Stitch's full attention was on the initial sound because it was a noise that haunted his nightmares. It was the sound of Lilo in trouble.

"Lilo?" he responded, their race forgotten.

No matter how fast his reflexes might be, he only managed to catch a glimpse of the girl as he spun around. Something tall and orange was pulling her into a gap between of two buildings. People, some locals and some tourists, were equally drawn by her shriek and were pointing towards the spot she was snatched away. Stitch barely noticed their reactions. All that mattered was that Lilo was in trouble.

The small blue figure sprinted, plowing straight through any obstacle in his way. He ignored the yelps of confusion and annoyance as he knocked people off their feet with his desperate attempt to follow where she vanished. As he reached the narrow gap between buildings, not even large enough to be considered an alleyway, Stitch still couldn't see her. Almost any scent he might pick up was still masked by the salt water crusted on his fur. All he had left to follow was the annoyed yells and calls for help that were quickly growing fainter as the distance between him and Lilo increased.

* * *

Experiment 613 wasn't the most powerful of Jumba's creations. Nor did the light blue creature have the busiest or most difficult role in his one true place. The lemur-like being spent most of his days relaxing in the small little house built for him or perched on a rooftop, keeping an eye out for trouble. True, he was supposed to serve as an alien invasion alarm that someone could used to alert people, but he saw no problem with adding his voice when a different disaster was occurring. There could never be too many fire alarms, tsunami warnings, and such. As long as he used a slightly different sound for each one (and kept the volume at a safe level), it seemed like a good strategy to him.

Yaarp stared out at the surrounding area, perfectly content with his life. He and his cousins might not be doing exactly what they were built to do, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was more fun to have a big ohana. He liked his one true place. And even if he was created for evil, that didn't mean he had to stay evil. Even Jumba wasn't really that evil.

Movement caught his eye, pulling the creature's attention to a particular section of the island. The size and color of the movement was what really held his focus. Humans tended to be in similar colors and the more vibrant experiments on the island tended to be smaller. A tall, orange shape was moving swiftly towards the tree line, clearly neither human nor experiment.

Yaarp bounced up to the highest point on the building he was perched on, peering at the scene. The orange shape was carrying something. Then, he saw a blue figure further back, clearly trying to follow the escaping orange thing. Yaarp recognized Stitch. He also figured out the orange figure was probably an alien. And if Stitch was chasing the alien, his movements clearly desperate even at that distance, then it wasn't a friend.

He knew he was supposed to wait for someone to let him know that a possible alien arrival was an enemy. After all, it would be embarrassing for everyone if he started blaring out a warning when it turned out to be just Gantu or someone visiting. But Yaarp's instincts were telling him that something was wrong and that the orange figure disappearing into the foliage was an enemy.

Drawing himself to his full height by perching on his tail and uncurling the horn on his head, Yaarp performed his important responsibility. While taking care not to cause any damage to nearby structures or the hearing of the closest humans, he blared out an alarm to warn everyone of the presence of hostile aliens.

* * *

"Let me go," Lilo shouted, struggling in the grip of her captor. "Stitch, help!"

Normally, the girl would be impressed by the fact she was dealing with a giant bug person. A giant, orange, praying mantis with yellow eyes was holding her tightly with her pincher-like arms and carrying her through the forest at a rather quick pace. It was the kidnapping that was ruining the moment. She'd simply been grabbed off the street by the insect person.

"Let go," she yelled, kicking at the solid exoskeleton of her captor. "I'm warning you. You're going to be sorry."

"Silence, human," the orange praying mantis creature ordered. Lilo quickly determined that her captor was a girl based on the voice. "The queen demands we bring you back for study."

"If your queen turns out to be a wasp mummy, you should know I've seen almost every movie. I know how to defeat the wasp mummies without being eaten or turned into one of your worker drones."

"Silence," she repeated, a slight hint of clicking in her voice. "Your struggles and noise will not aid you. We will soon reach the ship and we shall not be distracted or detained."

Lilo quickly changed her thought process from monsters to aliens. On the one hand, that was mildly comforting since she had plenty of experience dealing with aliens from other planets. On the other, it was a lot harder to escape from someone after they had you on their spaceship and off the planet.

"Aggaba!" Stitch's voice called out from somewhere behind them. "Lilo!"

"Stitch," the girl shouted back. "Please help!"

Lush plants blocked her from seeing if her best friend was catching up. But she knew he was still following. She trusted him. She knew he would save her. He always would.

A loud blaring sound filled the air, making the girl look up in surprise. She knew that sound. On a bad day, it could deafen anyone within range and knock them flying. On a good day, it was simply a friendly noise from one of the many cousins who lived on the island.

"Yaarp?" Lilo muttered to herself before a grin spread across her face. Glancing up at her giant praying mantis captor, she said, "You're in big trouble now. Hear that alarm? Everyone on the whole island knows that there are evil aliens here now."

"Interesting. We were not informed that your species were taking measures concerning extraterrestrials," said the orange creature, not even slowing in her sprint through the forest. "It does not matter, however. We have take precautions to guarantee success."

"Lilo," shouted Stitch, the girl finally catching a glimpse of her loyal friend as he leapt over some of the vegetation.

Just as she was about to call out to him again, several plasma bursts struck him as someone fired from the undergrowth. The unexpected impacts knocked him flying back, at the very least stunning him for the moment. Two other orange praying mantis people, each one holding onto a spear-shaped object with a glowing green tip, instantly joined Lilo's captor from their hiding places.

The girl realized that it was an ambush set up in case someone tried to follow and rescue her. Just like Stitch did. They knew when they grabbed her that someone would try to save her and they'd been prepared. And if they were prepared, then they might actually stand a chance of taking her away.

"Stitch?" she yelled, hoping to see or hear some sign that he was still trying to follow her.

She knew that he could survive a hit from a plasma cannon (or whatever the spear-shaped blasters were), but that didn't stop the girl from worrying at least a little. She needed to know he was okay. And, because her struggles against the firm grip holding her wasn't working, she needed to know that he was still trying to rescue her. But she couldn't see him or hear him anymore and they kept moving farther away from where he landed.

It was like their first encounter with Gantu all over again, the last several years of her life stripped away until she was just a six year old girl once more. It didn't matter at the moment she'd spent three years facing impossible odds with her best friend in order to make sure over six hundred experiments didn't unleash complete chaos on the island. All that mattered was that she couldn't escape and was alone. She was captured by an alien she knew nothing about, about to be taken far away from her home. She might never see her ohana again. None of them. Her sister. Jumba and Pleakley. All the cousins. And Stitch. She wouldn't have Stitch. Lilo knew that, as long as she and Stitch were together, they could always find a way out of a problem. Together, they were unstoppable. But apart, they were more vulnerable.

"Stitch!" the little girl screamed desperately. "Please don't leave me."

She needed him. And he needed her. She didn't want to be alone again. She didn't want to lose her ohana.

She caught sight of their destination. While smaller than Jumba's ship, she recognized a spacecraft when she saw one. Even if this particular one was shaped vaguely like a dark-green dragonfly. Knowing that she was running out of time, Lilo fought against the insectoid-alien's grip in a final desperate attempt to stay on Earth. Even if she couldn't escape from all three of them, maybe she could at least delay them long enough for Stitch to recover and catch up. He would come, after all. She knew he would. He _had_ to.

" _Stitch!_ " she called as she was carried inside.

* * *

Between trying to unscramble his thoughts after being hit by at least four direct hits by plasma blasts within seven seconds, Stitch called himself every insult he knew in English, Hawaiian, and Tantalog. He shouldn't have been caught off guard like that. If he could have smelled his surroundings properly, he would have realized there was an ambush. And while Yaarp's alarm would normally be helpful, it was drowning out a lot of the ambient noise and left him even less aware of his surroundings. He shouldn't have been hit, but he was too focused on the most important thing in his life to notice the kidnapper had friends.

Shaking his head in an effort to clear it as he climbed back to his feet, he forced away some of the more treacherous thoughts his racing mind was already producing. After all, based upon his previous speed and the rate at which he'd been gaining on them, it wouldn't be easy to catch back up. The amount of distance and time it would require for him to reach Lilo was quickly growing. And with each passing second, he could calculate the diminishing odds that he would be able…

" _Stitch!_ "

All doubts and fears of failure were shoved aside as he ran towards the sound of her voice once again. He couldn't fail her. That single concept pounded through the genetic experiment. He couldn't fail her. He simply couldn't. He had to reach her. He had to get to Lilo before it was too late.

Tearing through the vegetation in his way, he tried to deny the sounds of a large engine starting. He ran, sprouting his extra arms in an attempt to increase his velocity in any way that he could. His limbs, designed for strength rather than pure speed, pushed him forward through the forest. He couldn't fail her. Even as he heard something large lifting off the ground, the blue figure ran after his lost friend.

Just as he reached the small clearing and caught sight of the spaceship that undoubtedly now contained a certain dark-haired little girl, Stitch realized that it was already too far off the ground for him to reach. His brain was already connecting various scenarios to make the attempt to reach the rising spacecraft, ranging from using a tree for a slingshot to trying to ride an explosion again. But just as quickly as the options formed in his head, they were discarded. Within seconds of seeing the dragonfly-shaped object heading for the stratosphere, Stitch knew he couldn't reach it. And by the time he reached the only other space-capable form of transportation on the island, it would be gone.

"Lilo," he whispered, horrified to realize that there was absolutely nothing he could do now to prevent her from disappearing from the planet. " _Naga_."

Gone. She was gone.

He stared up at the vanishing shape of the spaceship, his dark eyes unable to turn away from her last known location. His limbs, normally so easy for him to move, felt heavy and hung at his sides limply. He couldn't think; his rapid thoughts and efficient mind now seemed to be drowning in thick mud.

That was the perfect description for him. Drowning. Stitch felt like he was plummeting to the bottom of the ocean, helpless and lost. She couldn't be gone. She'd been there for almost his entire life. He'd always had Lilo. Not having her was just _wrong_. She was his ohana. The one place that he truly belonged was with her. She was his first and best friend, the one who taught him about life beyond his programming for destruction, and the most important person in his existence.

And he failed her. It was all his fault. He should have stayed closer to her when they were playing and racing across town. He should have paid closer attention to his surroundings. He should have been faster. He should have realized they set an ambush to slow him down. He should have saved her. He heard her calling, pleading for him to save her, and he failed.

Slumping down to the ground as limply as Lilo's doll, Scrump, Stitch didn't even try to push aside the feelings of guilt. He was Jumba's greatest creation, Experiment 626. He was unstoppable. He was able to escape from the entire Galactic Armada shortly after his creation. He was able to evade attempts at recapture on a small island for days before Gantu's arrival to Earth. He'd helped defeat and rehabilitate his cousins while keeping Hamsterviel's plans from coming to fruition. And yet, even when he was capable of so much, he couldn't accomplish the most important thing of all. He couldn't keep Lilo safe.

"Lilo," he said softly, his eyes dropping to his clawed limbs as the clenched and unclenched in frustrated helplessness. "Stitch sorry."

He couldn't just stay there, drowning in guilt and sorrow at failing her. There had to be a way to fix things. He couldn't give up. He had to find her.

Pulling his numb and heavy limbs back into motion, the blue experiment tried to focus on how he couldn't just give up on her. They managed to save Jumba when he was kidnapped, right? And she didn't give up on any of her ohana when Leroy and Hamsterviel were causing trouble, right? There had to be some way to find her and save her. And if she was even slightly harmed, Stitch would rip all of them apart. He would tear their limbs off, snapping each one into multiple pieces. He would crush them with chucks of their spacecraft, torn loose for the specific purpose of smashing the kidnappers. He would slice open their heads and…

Stitch grabbed the sides of his head and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to banish those thoughts. Anger and destructive programming weren't always a good combination. But he wasn't like that. He was good now. _Good_. Lilo wouldn't want him to have those kinds of thoughts about someone, even people who kidnapped her. And those types of ideas were a little scary for him. If he considered how easy it would be to do that sort of destruction against someone, about how completely fragile they were in comparison to his strength, then it didn't take much imagination to realize how simple it would be to do something similar to people he cared about. How simple it would be to harm his ohana…

No, he was good. He was _good_. Lilo might be lost, but he would be good so that she wouldn't be disappointed with him when she got back. Because he _would_ get her back. If he had to search the entire universe and turn the United Galactic Federation upside down in the process, he would. But he would also make sure that he did what Lilo would want him to.

Not wanting to waste any more time that he could be using to search for her (and not completely certain that he should be alone while his anger and hurt over her disappearance fed into his original programming), Stitch took off toward home. If he wanted to save Lilo, he would need help and a spaceship of his own in which to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now Lilo has been kidnapped by aliens and separated from Stitch. You really have to feel sorry.
> 
> …for the kidnappers. The Swarm really doesn't know what they've just done. Messing up the ohana never goes well. The consequences for their actions will be far beyond what they could ever predict.


	3. Informing the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that Lilo has been abducted by aliens, the ohana has to be informed. That's not going to be fun for anyone. But that's kind of an important step in the whole rescue process: telling people they need to perform a rescue. On the other hand, it gives me the opportunity to flesh out some more of the characters. And that's always fun for me to do.
> 
> Remember, the Swarm is mine (though they can be borrowed with permission if you like them). The rest is Disney, who will one day take over the world and it shall indeed be a small world after all. 
> 
> And non-English languages that are translated shall be represented by having those sections written in italics. It should be obvious when that happens, but I just wanted you to know. Enjoy!

"My evil creation better to be having good reason to be making all this noise," muttered Jumba, watching several confused experiments wandering into the front yard. "If it's false alarm, I blame you."

"Hey, just because I named Yaarp and he likes me best doesn't make him any less your responsibility," Pleakley countered. " _You_ created all those little monsters. Besides, Yaarp's too smart and sweet to start setting off false warnings."

"So you are to be preferring aggressive alien invasion of primitive and nearly defenseless planet?"

The Plorgonarian was silent for a moment before chuckling nevously, "I'm sure he could make a mistake. Or maybe he's learned about practical jokes."

He rolled his eyes at his companion. And considering that Kweltikwans tended to have four eyes, the action left a very clear impression of his annoyance with Pleakley.

If someone had told the evil genius he would someday be roommates with the noodle-y one-eyed Plorgonarian the Grand Councilwoman visited his prison cell with, Jumba would have laughed. Of course, if someone also told him back in Evil Genius University that his partner, Dr. Jacques von Hamsterviel, would betray him to the Galactic Federation, his greatest creation would become the willing playmate to a child of a technologically-limited planet, his evil programming of six hundred twenty five living experiments would be easily corrupted to the point of harmlessness to the indigenous species, and that one day he would live on a world with laughably-backwards technology that could barely carry their people to their moon and that he would continue to live there even when offered the chance to regain his lab at Galaxy Defense Industries... well, he would certainly want to scan the brain of anyone who told him all that.

Even his genius intellect couldn't calculate the odds of how he'd ended up living happily as the roommate of the supposed "Earth expert" Plorgonarian and helping Nani raise her sister. There were simply too many statistically-improbable events that led to the final result. Not to mention the little girl who practically defied any prediction Jumba might make, especially when it came to finding her way into the hearts of evil genetic mutant experiments and evil geniuses alike.

Jumba was once married. He had parents that he respected and a few siblings both younger and older than him. He might even have a couple of grandparents left. There were people on Kweltikwan he shared genetics with and who he once shared a legal contract with that defined them as spouses. They were also individuals who didn't care about him, would betray him or lie to him without hesitation, or might even actively berate and insult him. In fact, his ex-wife would likely pluck out three of his eyes on a bad day. In summary, he had relatives. But he didn't have family.

At least, he didn't have family until a certain little human child decided to swallow him up into her ever-growing ohana. It changed things, having Lilo declare you family. And not just big changes, like Stitch and the others growing beyond their programming to a degree he could have never dreamed. There were tiny, gradual, powerful changes that were nearly invisible and unnoticeable until much later.

The change from solitary evil genius who would love nothing more than to create the perfect biological weapon of destruction as the ultimate display of brilliance to the genius with a family who cared about him just as he did them in return and one entire island covered by the appreciated and admired results of his life's work... he couldn't calculate the exact moment it happened, but it somehow led to him being happy on the primitive planet, being the "uncle" of the improvised ohana, and having his creations act like true living beings with individual desires and choices rather than the simple constructed weapons he originally envisioned. The changes caused by having a real family were the reason was now dealing with a concerned Pleakley wondering if Experiment 613 made a mistake or if there was truly an extraterrestrial threat.

As the large, stocky figure moved through the growing crowd of experiments, Jumba took a mental note of which of his creations were present. Experiment 523, the icy small one with icicle spikes on his head, was pacing next to the shorter red Experiment 619. One of Jumba's greatest regrets in the last few years was the lack of recorded footage of their elemental battle before Splodyhead's conversion to good. The low-built shape of Experiment 513 with his flat tail was waiting patiently next to the stairs. Experiment 221, obviously trusting that the lighthouse would survive without him long enough to investigate the emergency, was zipping back and forth as electricity all around the yard. And since 626 wasn't present, the pink-furred figure of Experiment 624 was apparently taking on the job of leadership and moving around to keep the new arrivals calm. But even with all of them talking among each other, none of the experiments seemed to know what Yaarp's alarm was about.

"Jumba!" shouted Stitch as he burst out of the undergrowth. "Maka maka. Lilo. Kaphong. Saari isa impodement."

"Slow down and try Standard. Or English. Or whatever they call it on this planet," Pleakley said.

The blue figure didn't even react to the Plorgonarian's words. He kept running towards his creator in a clear desperate panic. Jumba frowned. He couldn't be certain, but it almost looked like the experiment didn't even understand the one-eyed extraterrestrial's words. While it was theoretically possible for the language centers in the experiment's mind to be overloaded enough to cause a temporary failure, it would require extreme mental and emotional distress. All that would be left would be the default primary language of Tantalog. And the scientist didn't want to consider how bad it would have to be for 626 to cause that result, but the few words he'd managed to hear through the frantic pleas didn't bode well.

Feeling a little rusty actually speaking his native language rather than merely translating it, Jumba carefully said, " _Slow down, 626. What happened to upset you this much? What did you say about Little Girl being captured?_ "

" _She's gone_ ," he answered, coming to a stop directly in front of the scientist. Ears flat, Stitch continued frantically, " _They took her. How could they? I tried to save her, I promise. I did. We have to get her. We have to save her. I let her down. I failed her. I couldn't protect her. Why couldn't I get to her in time? I'm sorry. I'm just an idiotic failure of an experiment_."

" _626, please calm down. This isn't helping_ ," his creator urged, starting to realize what could send the indestructible creature into this state and he wasn't happy about what he was hearing in the slightest. " _Take a deep breath and explain what happened. I can't help if I don't know enough_."

The blue experiment followed the instructions, trying to calm the swirling storm of emotions that Jumba could see in those black eyes. There was fear, guilt, dread, frustration, worry, fury, desperation, and hopelessness all tangled up. And it made it too easy for Jumba to lose his usual detached scientist stance with his creation and regain the mindset of a worried parent with an upset child: a role he was less comfortable and experienced with, but equally true to who he was in regards to Stitch.

" _We were coming back from the beach. We were racing and I was ahead. We were just playing; she should have been safe. But someone grabbed her._ "

" _Who?_ "

" _Monsters. Monstrous aliens who took her to their spaceship and escaped. I tried to stop them, to get her back. I tried. But I failed her. I couldn't catch up in time._ "

"Uh, any of you want to fill me in anytime soon?" requested Pleakley, obviously confused while the other present experiments were starting to look at each other worriedly. The Plorgonarian reminded, "In case you forgot, I didn't take Tantalog as a second language in college."

Jumba ignored his roommate's words and said, " _What species of aliens?_ "

" _I... I don't know."_

The scientist frowned. His creation would recognize any member of the Galactic Federation. He made sure of that. Of course, no member of the alliance would kidnap Earth's ambassador either. That meant the culprit was someone outside the Federation, which could complicate things.

" _Describe them, 626._ "

" _Using local units of measure, they were approximately six feet tall, insectoid, a deep orange shade with no obvious markings, two wide-spread and large eyes, and fast through rough terrain,"_ he reported. _"I didn't get the best look, but they superficially resembled the native insect, the praying mantis._ "

Of course his fast-working brain managed to collect a reasonable description and relay it in a clinical fashion. It was the type of intelligence-gathering behavior he'd wanted the experiment to be capable of in order to maximize his destructive capabilities. Jumba just wished the description was different. The day just kept getting worse. True, he had a few ideas of how to proceed. But it still wasn't going to be easy to handle, even for a genius.

"Someone tell me what's going on now or else I'll never bake another upside-down pineapple cake from Carla's new cooking show again," Pleakley threatened. "I don't like being left in the dark."

"Fine," Jumba said shortly. "Little Girl has been captured by what are probably Entolyterians and taken off the planet. Better?"

Ignoring the resulting panic attack from the Plorgonarian at the news, the scientist focused back on a very miserable Stitch. This wasn't good. As terrifying as it was to nearly lose his experiment due to insufficiently-charged molecules, it did serve the important purpose of warning Jumba not to forget that all the previous programming, adjustments, and mistakes were still there. No matter how different 626 seemed now, he was still the same little monstrosity he created. Underneath the fluffy exterior, the destructive programming still remained active and simply held in check by the gift of free will and the unwavering love for the kind-hearted human girl. Evidence could still be seen in the broken furniture left behind when his temper flared, when impulse won out over rational thought. Anger and destructive programming were rarely a good mix. And now there was no Little Girl to rein him in and Stitch had more than enough reason to be angry...

He could see the experiment opening and closing his clawed fists, his instincts obviously urging him to destroy. He wanted to destroy the problem, to lash out at the source of what was hurting him. Jumba didn't know if Stitch even realized he was making the gesture. And even if the scientist once intended his creature to be evil and chaotic, he no longer wanted Stitch to do something he'd truly consider monstrous afterwards.

Jumba wasn't good at this. If he was, maybe he'd still be married. Or more likely, he would have been wise enough to avoid that disastrous marriage in the first place. Jumba wasn't good at emotions. They were twisty, tangled, complicated things that were somehow harder to understand than any science. Calming and comforting one of his precious experiments was something far safer to leave to Lilo. But she wasn't here. She couldn't help the worried, frightened, angry, guilt-ridden experiment. And this wasn't the job for a scientist.

But it was the job for a parent. Even one who rarely acknowledged or felt confident in that role.

"Stitch," he said, choosing to use the Standard name Lilo gave the experiment rather than use a number or a Tantalog equivalent of the simple word. " _This is not your fault. You aren't perfect. As good as I am as an evil genius, I didn't create you to be flawless and limitless. If you insist on dwelling on your short-comings, you must give me equal blame for not designing you better. But it is far smarter to focus on fixing the situation._ "

Switching to Standard for a moment, he ordered the female experiment, "624, inform and organize other experiments. We are to be preparing a rescue."

She only hesitated a moment, giving Stitch a quick hug that he certainly needed before charging back towards the others. Jumba wished that 626 could have responded a little more to her gesture of affection and sympathy, but the current situation was obviously too distracting for that.

The scientist continued, " _I know you are upset. I know you think you failed her. But I also know that she won't give up on you. Lilo believes in you. She has always believed that you are unstoppable, irreplaceable, loyal, and good. Even when evidence says otherwise, she believes in you and she's never been wrong. It doesn't take an evil genius to realize that Little Girl will be right again. You haven't failed her yet. As long as you don't give up, we'll find a way to help her._ "

" _I know we'll save her. We_ _ **have**_ _to. We have to get her back. Lilo is... everything,_ " stated Stitch, the frustration and anger with the situation briefly fading way to leave only sorrow and fear behind. " _I'm sorry, Jumba. I don't want to give up on her, but I'm... drowning. I'm drowning and lost and I can't stop thinking about Lilo being gone. I'm scared of never finding her or not finding her before something bad happens to her. I don't like being scared and I don't know how to stop. And I'm sorry, but I want to destroy everything connected to the ones who took her. I want to destroy them more than any large city, but I don't like those thoughts either. I'm good. I'm good, but the idea of never finding her hurts and I want to hurt them for taking her away. And I'm not sure I can make those ideas go away and I'm sorry and scared to go back to how I used to be before I met her. I just want everything to go back to how it was this morning. I'm sorry I failed and messed everything up_."

The Kweltikwan knelt down in front of him and briefly closed his eyes. Listening to the young and worried experiment trying to voice the current struggles with his destructive instincts, Jumba felt a pang of guilt for his decision to give the living creature such strong programming to only cause harm. He designed 626 to be unstoppable and unwavering in his destructive desires. He never stopped to consider what effect his actions would have if his evil creation ever desired to be good.

" _Everything will be all right, 626. I promise. We will find Lilo, safe and sound. She survived you and you were the perfect weapon. Little Girl will be fine. Just focus on that. We all love her and we'll make sure she gets a proper rescue._ " Switching once more to Standard, Jumba said, "Remember, Little Girl is ohana. No one left behind or forgotten."

Stitch nodded slowly, still apologizing in Tantalog. It didn't take a genius to realize that an especially quick rescue was important. For both Lilo and the experiment.

* * *

Once the initial panic about being kidnapped began to pass and she accepted the fact that she was disappearing into space, Lilo began take in her situation with a clearer head. It was bad, but it could be worse. After all, Gantu and Hamsterviel once kidnapped Jumba like this and they got him back. As long as no one gave up, they could still find a way. It might take a little time though. She would have to be patient. And when she started to feel any doubt, she would just have to remind herself: what would Elvis do?

With her courage and confidence freshly bolstered by her mental pep talk, Lilo studied her surroundings. Alien decor was something she'd grown familiar with. The design of her prison was different than those she'd been locked inside in the past. Rather than an entire wall being constructed of a clear durable material, there was a round door/viewing port with the rest of the surfaces being smooth metal. Outside her cell were a few computer consoles, but no chairs. Apparently her captors didn't sit down much.

As for her captors, there were three of them. They were orange praying mantises. Lilo couldn't think of a better description. They had triangle heads, huge bug eyes, long antennas, a beak-like mouth instead of the clicking mandibles she originally expected, a hard exoskeleton, a thorax and abdomen, and six legs. Well, two legs and four arms. The top set of arms were large, folded pinchers like a real praying mantis. The lower set were smaller and shorter, ending in three flexible fingers. Those limbs were working the computer systems and running the ship. And the bug people were just about a head taller than Nani, not including the antennas. Honestly, these aliens would be awesome in the next Wasp Mummy movie.

"Hey," she yelled at her captors, bracing her hands on her hips. "As the appointed ambassador for Earth, selected by the Grand Councilwoman herself, you better take me home right now or else you'll be huge trouble. I mean it. But if you turn this spaceship around right now, maybe they'll go easy on you."

"Silence," one of the orange aliens ordered, not even looking at the girl.

Lilo crossed her arms and scowled. She knew it probably wouldn't work, but she had to try. Even if Cobra Bubbles was right about many aliens being extremely concerned about rules and protocol, Lilo knew she tended to run into those who preferred to break them. Not just Hamsterviel either. Jumba was in trouble when he first joined the ohana because the cousins were illegal experiments. So she wasn't that surprised that these aliens didn't care about kidnapping an ambassador.

"Fine," she grumbled. "Just don't blame me when the rescue party shows up." She tugged at the swimming suit under her dress for a moment, trying to shake some of the drying sand loose, before asking, "Who are you guys anyway? What do you want?"

"We are the Swarm," the insectoid alien answered, the same one who spoke before and the one who grabbed Lilo in the first place. "We are Entolyterians. Queen Soltus ordered us to bring you to Entolytera and so we shall."

"What does she want?" asked Lilo. "I mean, if she wanted a favor or something, she could have asked. But if she's planning to lay some eggs in my head or something, I'll have to say no."

This time, the giant praying mantis did look at her. The girl possessed plenty of experience judging facial expressions on non-human faces, so she could recognize the look of disgust the suggestion caused. Lilo shrugged. They were big bugs. Laying eggs in people's heads was the kind of thing that happened. She used to pretend that sort of thing happened to Scrump all the time. And while it was cool to see that happen on TV, Lilo didn't want it to happen to her.

"We lowly Oranges would not dare to question Queen Soltus' wisdom or to speculate upon her desires, so we do not know what she intends for you," said the insectoid creature carefully. "However, the scenario you described is unlikely."

"So no eggs in my head. Got it," she nodded. "So what's your names?"

"Names?"

"Yeah, your names. People trying to capture me usually tell me their names eventually," the girl said. "It's polite and Nani always tells me to work on my manners." Adopting a grin on her face and acting like she wasn't a prisoner on a spaceship hurtling further away from her home with each passing moment, she waved, "Aloha. My name is Lilo Pelekai, but you can call me Lilo."

"The Swarm does not require names for individual members, human. There is no more point in giving a name to one member than there is in naming a single cell in your body. Each rank consists of interchangeable members. They are defined by their duty and service to Queen Soltus, not by singular members. Each Orange is a warrior, a guard, and a soldier. Each Yellow is a strategist and a weapon designer. Each Green is a weapon builder and factory worker. Each Brown is a trainer of the captured conscripts from conquered worlds and a caretaker of the young. And each lowly and worthless Blue performs menial tasks and maintenance. Our role within the Swarm is defined from the moment we hatch. We are efficient, strong, and powerful. The whole of the Swarm matters, not the single life of one Entolyterian. That is why we stand victorious while other worlds fall. There is no need for individual names, to celebrate one lowly member, when the entirety of the mighty Swarm is what truly matters."

Lilo didn't even blink in response to the passionate speech on the superior methods of the alien insects. After dozens of Jumba's "evil genius creations" speeches, she could easily separate the key information from the bragging.

"So you don't have names, you come in a lot of colors, and your jobs are based on colors," she summarized. "Not a lot of respect for individuality here. But what about the Queen Soltus person? She has a name."

"She is bestowed a name because she is the only one who is irreplaceable," another giant praying mantis, a male, stated firmly. "Now be silent, human."

"Well, I _also_ have a name and I want you to call me Lilo," the girl said. "And I think the rest of you not having names is just silly. I can't say 'hey, you' all the time. You need a name. And it just so happens that I'm an expert at giving aliens names."

The most talkative member of the swarm rolled her oversized eyes, "If you agree to stop speaking the rest of the journey and cease these questions, you may choose a name to use for me if the lack of one disturbs you so greatly."

"Deal," Lilo nodded, grinning as she fell back on a familiar activity. "Let's see. You're a girl alien and you look like a giant bug. You kidnapped me, but only because your queen told you to. You're fast, orange, and you said the bug people who are your color are fighters. So a tough, strong name would be good. Like Helga or Pele. But you need something different. You need a name that wouldn't belong to just _any_ giant, orange, alien, praying mantis person. I could call you Chatty because you talk more than your friends. Or maybe Gabby. Oh, Grabby would work since you have those cool folded pincher-claw things you used to grab me."

She pulled her arms close to her body while bending her hands down to demonstrate. The impression wasn't exactly perfect, but Lilo felt it was close enough.

"Was this not supposed to silence the human?" remarked the third alien, another female.

"Be patient," said Lilo. "I've already used up over six hundred and twenty good names for the experiments. Thinking of new ones starts getting tricky. And she needs a special one. She's the first alien I've named who isn't a cousin. I want to do it right."

The girl crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. It was true that she wanted to pick the perfect name. But she also wanted to keep herself distracted and busy. As long as she was asking questions and thinking about names, any doubts about getting home and seeing her ohana could be kept at bay. They saved Jumba. She'd even managed to fly into space with Reuben for a rescue in the middle of the Leroy fiasco. Someone would save her. Rescues were what they did. Until then, she would keep herself busy.

"You need a name that no one else would ever give an orange bug-lady alien," Lilo continued. "Something unique and awesome. But also something pretty." She tugged at her floral dress again, the salt left on her skin from the drying sea water causing her to itch slightly, before inspiration struck abruptly. "I've got it. I could give you a normal, common name, but that would be boring. I could give you an alien-sounding name, but that would be predictable. I could give you a name like the ones I give the cousins, but something descriptive won't work if all the bug people are supposed to be almost the same. So I'll give you a name that no one would expect, the kind you would only hear in Hawaii and definitely not in space. I'm going to call you Pua. In Hawaiian, it means 'flower.' And while there are lots of flowers on the islands and even if some are pretty much the same colors as other flowers, they're still different and special. Plus, some of the flowers are the same shade of orange as you."

The large praying mantis, Pua, tilted her head, "Interesting logic. If you are satisfied with that decision, then you may use that designation for the duration of your time with the Swarm."

"Perhaps now the human will stop talking," muttered the third alien, once more refusing to use the girl's name.

"Yep, a deal's a deal," Lilo stated, feeling slightly vindictive. "No more talking for me."

Silence fell upon the spaceship. For about thirty seconds, she let her kidnappers believe they would get their requested quiet trip. Then the girl sprang on her loophole.

"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog," she sang at full volume, introducing yet another sadly-deprived species to the wonders of The King.

* * *

Nani would be the first to admit that her life didn't turn out the way she pictured. True, there were plenty of people in the world who didn't end up with their dream futures. But the young woman felt confident that none of their surprises could compare to hers.

She never expected to lose her parents and be left in charge of her little sister. She loved Lilo even though she was over a decade younger, but Nani hadn't been prepared to be thrown head first into guardianship. Finding the correct balance between sibling and parent wasn't easy and she still struggled sometimes to find the proper way to fulfill her role. All her life plans were tossed aside so she could keep her remaining family safe and sound. And as hard as it was, Nani didn't regret her actions for a second.

The bigger surprise to her life, one that she knew to be difficult to beat, was when a living bio-weapon crashed into their lives and Lilo decided he was staying. Nani was forced to accept the existence of aliens and that over half her family members now consisted of extraterrestrials. While Lilo believed in almost anything, the young woman never believed in life on other planets. Now her home appeared to hold the cast of a decent sci-fi movie. And while it was easier in some ways since Jumba, Pleakley, and Stitch helped with Lilo, they also brought their own forms of chaos and surprises to life.

Pleakley, for example, wasn't quite the Earth expert he believed himself to be. Nani couldn't even count the times he misunderstood a tradition or social convention. Not to mention his fascination with the way canned dog food produced its own gravy. But he was surprisingly skilled with a sewing machine, loved cleaning more than she could believe, and could recreate some interesting meals from television shows with a little supervision. And he wasn't stealing her clothes as much anymore.

Based on her times with Jumba in the household, Nani could understand why he had an _ex_ -wife. Between the evil laugh and his obsession with "evil" creations, there were certain issues with having a resident evil genius who was only mostly reformed. Granted, he wasn't _that_ evil. Mostly he just didn't like his creativity being hampered by rules, normal biology, or the laws of physics. It didn't take long for the young woman to restrict his mad science tendencies to his spaceship, but it was still nice having someone who could fix "primitive" appliances. And she adapted to having household objects vanishing for his projects.

Adapting to Stitch, though, was a particularly unique challenge. Jumba and Pleakley could be considered quirky uncles (or an uncle and aunt, considering Pleakley's usual disguise). It was easy enough to think of them that way. Stitch was like a little kid combined with a dog, a wolverine, and a tornado. Broken furniture and footprints on the ceiling were just the start. He was both curious and smart: the same combination of traits that Lilo possessed that propelled her into trouble on a regular basis. And the blue-furred experiment was strong and tough enough to cause _serious_ trouble.

Furthermore, there were times she wished Jumba didn't give his creation such sensitive senses. She could remember about two weeks after Stitch's arrival when the curious alien started following her around with a small frown. When she finally asked what he wanted, Stitch told her in fragmented English that she smelled different than before. It took her several moments to make the connection between his innocent question and her memories of her science class talking about biology, hormones, and pheromones, but she started blushing the instant she figured it out. And while she contemplated letting Jumba handle it, she couldn't decide if it would be worse if the evil genius was ignorant of human biology and would ask for a lesson himself or if he somehow possessed an in-depth knowledge of the topic that he would be happy to share with the entire household. So she forced herself to take care of it herself.

The strangest twist to her life, out of all the weird things she'd encountered or dealt with, was the fact that Nani found herself giving an alien genetic experiment an abbreviated version of The Talk. She didn't bother with too many details (considering the fact Jumba essentially grew Stitch in an oversized test tube, she didn't know how relevant it might be). She mostly told him that older human girls smelled different once a month for a while. She told him that she might also be angrier than normal once a month for the same reason. And she told him that it would happen to Lilo someday when she was older and that it wasn't something to worry about. It just meant she was growing up and maturing. Finally, Nani told Stitch that her six year old sister didn't need to hear about any of it until she was a little older. It was officially the most surreal moment in her entire life, something that no one could have prepared her for.

So her life didn't turn out like she predicted. It was strange and chaotic. There were days where the sheer craziness made her want to scream and pull her hair out. But that's how it was sometimes in a family. And even on her worst days, she loved her weird family. It was the oddest ohana ever and it was _hers_. Lilo, Stitch, Jumba, Pleakley, David, and even the hundreds of cousin experiments...

And because of exactly how abnormal her life truly was, Nani knew what the alien invasion alarm sounded like. Normal people didn't need or possess that knowledge. The tourists and even several locals thought the blaring sound was some type of tsunami warning. Her life wasn't normal, so the young woman recognized Yaarp's voice. While others watched the ocean for danger, Nani knew the danger was from a different source. And she could already feel dread forming in the pit of her stomach as she ran home.

Lilo was involved. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind. Her sister was like an alien trouble magnet. If she didn't know that Stitch would do anything to protect Lilo, Nani knew she would have died from stress already. But even when Gantu was stomping around the island and that Hamsterviel guy brought a clone army of experiments (and her life was definitely strange when she was forced to use a phrase like that), Yaarp never sounded the alarm. Usually she never even heard about the extraterrestrial problems until after they were solved. This time, the young woman could feel something was wrong.

Her first glimpse of the house did nothing to banish that sense of dread. Dozens of worried experiments were standing around the property. Pleakley, wearing one of his floral dresses, was running around the yard in a panic and shrieking. Nani spotted a pink figure, Angel, darting around in an apparent attempt to restore order. In the center of the group was Jumba. The four-eyed alien was knelt down to Stitch's level, talking to him in what was obviously meant to be a comforting manner.

That scared her. Jumba was a nice enough person, but he usually treated his various experiments with the pride of a scientist. He liked his creations and thought they were wonderful accomplishments of his genius. But it was rare that he acted like what he truly was to Stitch and the others: their father. He might have intended for them to be living weapons designed for destruction, but she knew he'd grown more attached to them than he had planned. The mad scientist couldn't hide his heart completely, but he didn't usually go out of his way to behave like a parent. The last time she could remember him doing so, it was back when Stitch nearly died because of some glitch in his creation. When Jumba started acting parental to his creations, it meant things were truly serious.

And as bad as it might be that Jumba was acting fatherly towards his prize creation and as bad as it might be that Stitch was hunched over, ears flat, and fists so tight that the claws would have pierced through the skin of a less invulnerable creature, it wasn't the worst part. It was the fact that she couldn't see her sister.

The experiments got out of the young woman's path as she charged forward. The cousins knew better than to get in her way. As she got closer, she could hear the small blue figure muttering in his native tongue, his tone both angry and scared. The only word Nani recognized for certain was "saka." He was apologizing.

She could have asked what happened. She could have asked what Yaarp's warning was about. She could have asked what was wrong, why Stitch was apologizing, or any of the other hundred questions racing through her mind. But there was only one question that she needed answered immediately. It was the same question she asked when she realized there were real aliens on the island years ago.

"Where's Lilo?"

Jumba flinched in surprise at her arrival, Pleakley stopped shrieking in panic, but Stitch was the one to speak. Unfortunately, it wasn't in English and it was far too fast for her limited knowledge to translate.

"Lilo kha araimi shol. Saka. Meega toobaga. Meega ika-patootie. Saka Nani. Saka Lilo..."

"Stitch, calm down," she interrupted, kneeling down to his level. The dread in her stomach was growing quickly, but she forced her tone to remain calm and level. "I can't understand you like that."

Taking a deep breath, he said in a pained voice, "Lilo... is gone."

* * *

"My hands are shaking and my knees are weak," the human girl sang at full volume. "I can't seem to stand on my own two feet."

The only male member of the retrieval party, quietly reminding himself that the queen wanted the human girl unharmed for the moment, muttered, "Are we there yet?"

* * *

The brief summary of the girl's kidnapping and the fact she was now hurtling to a distant corner of the galaxy wasn't met with tears and despair from the older girl, though there was a moment where it looked like she was going to crumble. Instead, fire burned in her eyes and Nani merely addressed the crowd of aliens and alien experiments with the determined phrase "I'm coming." Then Pleakley, in the hopes of preventing further harm, made the grave error that he fully intended to record as a warning for future visitors to the planet. He suggested that it was too dangerous for her to go into space for a rescue mission.

For the next five minutes while Jumba, Stitch, and the other experiments outlined the start of a plan, the young woman firmly (and loudly) stated that she would not be left behind when Lilo was in danger and that anyone who tried to keep her away from her sister would be cut up into little pieces, stuffed into the blender set on puree, and baked into a pie. The description was remarkable vivid and the combination of English and Hawaiian vocabulary used to explain the process in horrifying detail ensured that no one would doubt her intentions to follow through with that threat if necessary. And adding further support to her honesty in regards to her plans, the newly-arrived Fibber didn't buzz at any point. By the end of the rant, several of the experiments looked impressed and Pleakley could feel himself grow pale.

As much as he loved the fascinating aspects of Earth and the humans that called it home, there were days that he was forced to remember something important. Even if the native species was fairly underdeveloped technologically and was mostly ignorant of the universe beyond their world, they could be formidable and a little scary when properly motivated.

And Rule One when visiting Earth would have to be to never get between a protective older sister and her missing younger one. It never turned out well for those who tried. Especially when Stitch was equally set on saving the girl. Having Nani and the little blue monster agree on a plan of action led to things like chasing down Gantu's ship all around the island and between mountains. The more he thought about it, the more Pleakley worried about the idea of turning the older girl loose on the rest of the galaxy.

While Lilo took to space travel and the idea of alien life forms like she was born on a more developed planet, Nani always seemed a little slower to adapt. There was never any fear about the younger girl having trouble adjusting and fitting in among extraterrestrials on any planet. She sometimes seemed to do better when not dealing with humans. Nani, on the other hand, only seemed to deal with only what was necessary for her daily life.

But with Nani on a mission, she wouldn't worry about any form of adapting. She wouldn't try to fit in. Instead, she would probably charge straight through any obstacle. The rest of the universe would either have to help her or get out of the way. Pleakley was afraid the United Galactic Federation would never recover from this.

Still, he wasn't crazy enough to try again at convincing Nani to stay behind. He didn't want to be pureed in the blender.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, everyone in the immediate ohana now knows about the kidnapping. And Lilo has calmed down enough to start acting like someone who spent the last three years facing aggressive experiments on a regular basis and stops being scared of the situation for the most part. She knows her family is coming, so she's just passing the time until they show up.
> 
> Also, I figured that Stitch and Jumba would be more articulate/have better grammar in their primary language of Tantalog. I certainly sound more coherent when speaking English than the Spanish I learned in school, after all


	4. Space and Alien Worlds

Urca always wanted to be part of the Galactic Armada. From her pointy beak to her six tentacle-legs and every inch of scaly teal skin in between, she wanted that job. True, her species wasn't the fastest or the strongest, but she'd been certain she could help. She'd dreamed about it since she was a little squidling. And though everyone told her it was foolish, the amphibious young recruit never gave up. She survived basic training and did everything she was told. All her hard work finally paid off when she received orders that she would be on the newest ship and the flagship for the entire armada, the BRB. It was the greatest day of her entire life.

True, she was working in the galley. That wasn't exactly what she expected, but it was a start. And it was an important job, making sure the crew was fed. Urca intended to always do her best, even if the task didn't seem particularly glamorous. Besides, the company was nice.

Reuben was Chief Galley Officer and one of the main sources of gossip on the ship. Everyone knew the first part of the story, that Dr. Jumba Jookiba was arrested about three (almost four) years ago for performing illegal genetic experiments and the creation of a living weapon. The creation then escaped during transport and attempts to retrieve and extract the creature were enacted. These facts were well-documented. Less certain was what events led to the pardoning of the experiment and creator, the dismissal of Captain Gantu from service for three years, the discovery of Dr. Jookiba's previous creations, and the temporary overthrow of the Grand Councilwoman from her office by Dr. Jacques von Hamsterviel. Rumors and guesses were exchanged regularly. And of course, the resident experiment's presence on the ship at the personal request of Captain Gantu sparked even more curiosity. Which Reuben seemed to enjoy fueling in his spare time.

Urca found the illegal experiment intriguing and surprisingly harmless considering how steep the penalties were for their creation and the stories of Experiment 626. Half her height, golden-fawn fur, large red nose, big black eyes, and four limbs (well, technically six), he looked fairly ordinary for someone who could theoretically lift three thousand times his body weight, was bulletproof and fireproof, capable of climbing most surfaces, and could problem-solve faster than some computers when properly motivated. Of course, he rarely performed such actions. Instead, he ruled the galley with the occasional snide comment and expertly-crafted sandwiches. And anyone who wondered why Captain Gantu would want the genetic experiment onboard tended to shut up when they tried one of those sandwiches, especially those made with exotic ingredients such as that "turkey" substance.

Far more interesting than Reuben's (cute) appearance or origins as an experiment, however, was his interactions with Captain Gantu. The Chief Galley Officer could be rude, disrespectful, argumentative, insultive, blunt, casual, overly-familiar, or practically insubordinate in his addressing of the Captain, his decisions, and ideas. He could speak his opinion without permission or even interrupt the Captain midword. Reuben could say anything to him and Captain Gantu would often take his words into consideration. A few times, the Captain even wandered down to the galley to discuss a mission with Reuben. Urca remembered how surreal it seemed, watching them trade vicious accusations of being a lazy waste of space and a useless tub of blubber before almost instantly breaking down into chuckles and returning the conversation to the original issue.

It seemed strange that Reuben never wore his uniform except for inspections, that comments that should cause him to be tossed in the brig were instead met with a bemused shake of the head or a thoughtful pause, and that the experiment could somehow order the Captain to get some rest whenever he stayed awake for several days straight. Then Urca figured it out. It wasn't that Reuben completely disrespected authority; he was simply too close of a friend to Captain Gantu and too lazy to bother with all the formalities necessary. And the Captain understood his faults enough to let the issue go.

As Urca cleaned up the last of the dishes, she watched Reuben work on crafting yet another sandwich. For someone who was self-admittedly lazy, he could work surprisingly hard on projects that were important to him. She liked watching him in the galley. She made a mental note to review the section of armada rules concerning relationships among crew members. Just because some people had issues with interspecies dating didn't mean she did. Of course, bringing him home to Mother might be tricky since he lacked a set of gills to go with his lungs, but not every species could be amphibious...

"Incoming call for Chief Galley Officer Reuben," the intercom announced abruptly. "Origin of the signal is Ee-arth"

"Sounds like I'm getting a call from home" he said cheerfully, setting down the jar of pink goop and walking over to the screen imbedded in the wall. "Connect it down here. And learn how to pronounce 'Earth' sometime. It isn't that hard."

"Do you want me to give you some privacy?" asked Urca, fumbling the plate around in her webbed hands.

He shook his head, "Nah, you can stay. You might get a glimpse of my cousin and the little girl. They're the ones who usually call. The kid likes to keep an eye on us experiments and make sure we're still happy. You'll probably think she's adorable."

She'd heard many of Reuben's stories about his time on Earth with Captain Gantu. Urca knew that Experiment 626, Stitch, and the human girl, Lilo, featured in most of them. It might be interesting to meet them. Not to mention it might be nice to get another look at what humans looked like since, outside the recordings of a single award ceremony about the rehabilitation of the experiments, the information on the isolated and primitive planet was limited outside of certain college classes and dull survey reports.

The image that appeared, however, was a Kweltikwan. Urca recognized his face from the outcry over his illegal experiments, the news plastering his image everywhere immediately after the trial. And just as easily as she recognized Dr. Jookiba, she could see that he looked upset. Reuben, however, didn't seem to notice the less-than-cheerful emotions on his creator's face.

"Hey, Jumba," he greeted with a smile. "Wasn't expecting to hear from you. How's everything going with the ohana?"

"Things are not going well, 625," the scientist replied, shaking his head. "Something terrible has been happening today and we are in need of all the help we can be getting."

Frowning momentarily, Reuben asked, "What happened? I mean, it can't be that bad. Right?"

"It is very bad. Little Girl has been kidnapped. We are thinking it was Entolyterians."

Silence fell over them. Urca could hear someone in the background of the call, a female saying something about getting off work for a family emergency. Urca felt like she was intruding on something important, that her presence for this conversation was wrong. She knew the word 'ohana' from Reuben's stories and this was a moment meant only for family.

"We are going to Turo for to be getting answers," Dr. Jookiba continued.

There was a seriousness on Reuben's face that she didn't remember seeing before. He wasn't supposed to look that determined. The change was startling.

Slamming his hand to activate the intercom, the experiment said, "Tell Gantu we need to head for Turo and to get his fat patooki down to the galley _now_." Without waiting for a response, he turned his attention back to the scientist with a wry look on his face, "It might have taken me a while to get involved with the whole 'ohana' thing, but I understand enough to know that no one messes with our family and gets away with it. Give the big lug a couple of minutes to get down here, then tell us everything from the top."

* * *

The last time she was held captive by aliens, she was handcuffed and stuck on a floating disk whenever she wasn't locked up in a cell. This time, Lilo was allowed to at least walk on her own two feet. Running away wasn't an option, however. Pua and her friends were carrying the spear-shaped blaster-type weapons with their pincher arms. The girl didn't doubt for a second that they would fire at her if she tried to escape. Besides, where would she go on a strange planet?

She was in a city of some kind. Tall, brown, curved buildings that reminded her of termite mounds from nature shows loomed ahead of her. There were lots of various colored bug people going in and out of the rounded structures, moving with deliberate motions rather than the casualness of someone out for a stroll. Beyond the bustling insectoid population of the metropolis, she could catch a glimpse of a jungle. But as interesting as it was to be on another planet, the general appearance of the place was strangely boring. There weren't any decorations, signs, or artistic touches. Everything was practical.

Turning her gaze away from the alien city, Lilo spotted the welcoming party. A crowd of orange praying mantis people armed with spear-blasters were flanking a single red one. From the crown and white cape, the girl could assume the she was Queen Soltus. Based on the fact that female Swarm members apparently had slightly curved antennas and males had straight ones, Lilo could also see that most of the guards with the queen were male.

"Very good work, my loyal Oranges," Queen Soltus said, her gaze locked on the girl. "You have fulfilled this task admirably. I trust the retrieval was performed without difficulties, correct?"

"None that the Swarm could not handle," stated Pua, her eyes dropping to the ground and her antennas flattening against her head in response to being addressed by her leader. "We would never fail you, Queen Soltus."

The red insectoid inclined her head briefly and distractedly, but most of her focus was on studying Lilo. It was a little creepy. The girl felt like the bug person wanted to eat her or something.

"How strange," remarked Queen Soltus. "Such a small, ordinary-looking creature."

"Thanks?" Lilo said uneasily, tilting her head.

Ignoring the interruption, she continued, "It is difficult to believe something so insignificant could be capable of converting so many living weapons. It certainly should be interesting to see if the Yellows can weaponize that ability for our uses."

"Do you mean how I turn the cousins from bad to good?" asked the girl. "Is that what this is about?"

Still paying no attention to Lilo's words, the red praying mantis turned towards Pua, "Take the human to the science lab on the Theta Level, Orange. Guard the specimen during testing and study. The other Oranges need not accompany you for this task. They have other tasks to perform."

"As you command, Queen Soltus," she replied.

* * *

No one ever claimed that being the Grand Councilwoman was an easy job. She sometimes missed her days performing surveys on distant planets in search of possible settlement and occasionally assisting agents of primitive planets to devise excuses to declare their homes off-limits (Mr. Bubbles was certainly convincing to her shipmates at the time, but she'd seen through the mosquito excuse). It was certainly easier before she was elected to oversee the Federation Council.

While her position offered a great deal of power, she was still bound by the laws and decisions of the council in addition to the responsibilities of governing dozens of species. And though Ororalin Lyora from Tweslyrode, the surveyor, could make choices and hide facts based upon her own desires and beliefs, the Grand Councilwoman must always be equal and fair to all the planets and species in the alliance and could not show favoritism to a single group over the welfare of others. The previous Grand Councilman lost his position because he gave excessive benefits to his home planet at the expense of others in exchange for bribes and gifts. She would not repeat that mistake. She must always be neutral and all decisions must be based upon the laws and the decisions of the council.

Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't use the laws to ensure justice was served. With so many different planets, treaties, and past precedence, she could usually find a loophole or two when it became necessary to be creative to make certain that she did right thing rather than just the _lawful_ thing. It was surprising how useful an ancient by-law about the division of non-livestock-supporting property could be sometimes. Or a pet adoption document from a relatively-unknown planet...

She wasn't allowed favoritism in regards to her rulings, but that didn't mean there weren't individuals she enjoyed dealing with and could usually find a method to be lenient with them. She liked those who could pleasantly surprise her in some way. Stitch, once known as Experiment 626, and Lilo Pelekai were both such individuals. One of the decisions she was most proud of was allowing the reformed experiment to serve his sentence of banishment on Earth with the rather unique family that claimed him. Over the years, the Grand Councilwoman continued to be impressed by the members of the "ohana." Agent Pleakley regularly sent detailed reports of their progress and his latest studies concerning Earth, but she found the less formal and more personal messages from Lilo and Stitch to be more refreshing. Based upon the success rate with the assigned task of retrieving and reforming the various experiments, the Grand Councilwoman found it easy enough to convince the council to allow the child to represent her planet as ambassador. Even with Mr. Bubbles' experience with extraterrestrials, Lilo made more sense. The girl was ideal for the role since she could literally grow into the responsibilities without various complications and would be more used to dealing with different life forms than most of the people on her isolated planet.

She was honestly fond of the entire family from that planet. The concept of ohana was a nice one and it was interesting how so many were pulled in by Lilo. Somehow being partway across the galaxy didn't stop the girl from adding the Grand Councilwoman to the ohana. And the Tweslyrodite couldn't help herself from offering assistance to them when she could legally. Dropping all previous charges against Dr. Jumba Jookiba and Stitch so they were no longer banished to Earth was easy enough. The offers of jobs to Jumba, Pleakley, and Stitch in positions they were highly qualified for was also simple to accomplish, even if they ultimately declined. She even reinstated Captain Gantu and his partner, Reuben, because they were technically part of the ohana somehow and the job was open at the time. She did what she could to help them without completely crossing the line into outright favoritism.

So when she received news that the BRB was requesting permission to alter its flight plan to return to the Turo system and the spaceship registered to Dr. Jookiba was leaving Earth with a request for a private meeting with her, the Grand Councilwoman knew these individuals well enough to know there was a connection. And when she ordered Captain Gantu over a private channel to explain what was going on, those suspicions were confirmed.

The kidnapping of Lilo Pelekai, with the perpetrators suspected to be members of the Swarm, was a delicate problem. The political nightmare of an ambassador being taken by a foreign power with a large army and a history of violence was bad enough. Earth's current status as a wildlife preserve and not a true signatory of the alliance meant that it couldn't be quite considered a declaration of war against the United Galactic Federation, even if the human was given an official position as a representative. It was a little difficult to know what would be the ideal way to handle the situation without making it worse.

Outside of the political issues, the fact of the matter was that there was a little girl who was taken away from her family and home. And if she couldn't find a way to help the child with her rank and power, then how could she claim to be doing her job as the Grand Councilwoman? If she couldn't do the right thing for an innocent girl, then she deserved to be replaced and demoted back down to being a surveyor.

In the time until the arrival of her guests, she could make some preparations. Pushing aside some proposals and documents that could wait for a later time, the Grand Councilwoman requested everything connected to the Entolyterians and the fragile peace with them to be brought to her immediately.

* * *

Nani stared out at the stars. They were a beautiful sight for her first trip into space, yet the only reason she was coming was because a bunch of aliens kidnapped her sister. That cold fact destroyed any pleasure she might have gained from her breath-taking surroundings. It was like a nightmare. A horrible, twisted nightmare. She couldn't believe it. Well, she _could_ believe it. Her life was just that strange.

The young woman ran a hand through her hair. Getting off work wasn't easy, but she just couldn't stay home and wait. She'd left a message for Cobra Bubbles, but she had no idea when he might return to find it recorded on his answering machine. For someone who was supposedly retired from the FBI/CIA/MIB thing, he spent a lot of time completely out of reach on classified assignments. Hopefully he'd at least be able to help devise excuses for her job that would be more detailed and believable. The vague "family emergency" probably wasn't enough, regardless of how true it might be.

At least the rescue party was shaping up. In addition to Gantu and Reuben apparently meeting them at their destination, a few cousins were coming along for the ride. In fact, it was a little tricky keeping the numbers low enough to be practical; they were all fond of the missing girl.

She might not be as well-acquainted with the experiments as Lilo, but Nani did recognize some of them. Splodyhead, Slushy, Kixx, and Slugger were in the back with Pleakley and Stitch. Sparky and Elastico wanted to come, but couldn't risk leaving their jobs for too long. And while Finder offered his help, the intergalactic distances made his abilities a little less practical. Angel promised to watch over the cousins while everyone was gone, though the suggestion (translated by Jumba) to prepare a back-up team and commandeer/build another spaceship if necessary was both concerning and comforting. The loyalty to Lilo was amazing to the older sister, but somehow not surprising.

Nani tried to take comfort from how quickly and how many worried individuals sprang into action. She tried to think positively about the situation. But as she shifted in her seat, the young woman couldn't banish the unnerving thoughts about how she might never see Lilo again. Or even more treacherous, that Lilo wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for all the aliens in their lives. She regretted those ideas the instant they occurred, but she couldn't help it.

"I would to be asking if you are all right, but it would not be taking evil genius to know you are not," Jumba said abruptly, pulling Nani out of her thoughts. "Do you wish to talk, Bigger Girl?"

Letting her head fall into the palms of her hands, she sighed, "No, I _want_ to strangle the ones who kidnapped my sister. I want to find her and never let her leave my sight again. I want to wake up and find out this is just a nightmare."

"Sadly, it is not turning out to be a dream," he sighed tiredly, glancing away from the controls for a moment. "We will find Little Girl."

"I know. I have to believe that."

"So does 626," said the scientist, his voice dropping in volume. He glanced towards the back of the cockpit, checking to make sure the door was closed and that even the sharp-hearing of the experiment might have trouble eavesdropping. "I am worried about him."

"Yeah, he's definitely upset about this," she said, remembering the look on his face and the pained tone of voice he used when describing what happened. "Lilo's his best friend."

"More than that. Little Girl makes him good, helps him remember what is right and wrong. Little Girl showed 626 how to be more than ultimate living weapon and how to be Stitch instead," Jumba explained quietly. "But he is still what I created. He still is wanting to destroy, but choosing to be more than that. But now she is missing. He is angry and blaming self. This is not good."

"Trust me, there's plenty of anger to go around," she muttered, forcing herself not to think about blaming the blue experiment.

Treacherous thoughts about how unstoppable Stitch was supposed to be, how she trusted him to protect Lilo, and how he should have been able to beat anyone who tried to take her fluttered around the back of her mind. It wasn't fair to blame Stitch. Nani knew it wasn't fair and that she was just upset about the situation. She tried to keep that in mind.

"Yes, we all have every right to be angry," he acknowledged. "But while you are only to be making threats of stuffing people into blenders, 626 is strong enough to do it. And if he is angry enough, he may not think about what he is doing and only react on instinct."

"And his instincts would tell him to destroy," she finished.

She wasn't scared of Stitch. When she first thought he was a freaky dog, she was creeped out by him and a little nervous. After that, she wasn't afraid of him. Who could be afraid of him when they'd seen snoring on the couch with Lilo after a monster movie marathon? He could be annoying sometimes, but he was relatively harmless to the family. But now she was forced to remember how strong he was, how he could tear his way through metal and crush stone with his teeth. Nani knew he would never hurt his ohana. She also knew that people could do things they'd never normally consider when furious and scared of losing someone important. Things they may regret and be horrified by later.

"He is angry at self and kidnappers. He is also scared of what he is wanting to do," said Jumba before running a hand through his scarce collection of hair. "He is not used to be dealing with his destructive instincts without her around, especially when facing the possibility of loss. He has always had Little Girl there as calming influence, moral compass, and supportive friend. Now she is gone." The scientist paused a moment, staring out into space, "I am not knowing if you realize this or not, but 626 was about week old when you met him. He is still younger than Little Girl was when we first saw her."

Nani knew the experiment was relatively young. It was something that she kept in the back of her mind, but it was hard to remember sometimes. He was too smart and capable. Sometimes she had to be reminded of the truth. If Stitch was human, he would be in preschool. His brain was highly developed, but his experience and emotional maturity was still that of a young child. And this wasn't a situation that she would wish on a little kid.

"He is scared of becoming what I made him. 626 was meant to be a weapon and I was once happy about it. Now I am hoping he can remember to be good, to be Stitch, long enough to be back with Little Girl." Shaking his head slightly, he added, "That is why I am glad 625 is to be meeting us at Turo."

"Why?" she frowned.

"I trust 626. I know he is wanting to be good. But only 625 is strong enough to stop 626 if he is about to be doing something he'd regret."

Trying to turn her thoughts away from the idea Stitch being provoked to violence by anger and his destructive instincts, Nani asked, "Why are we going to Turo? I thought you said she was kidnapped by... Entolyterrors?"

"Entolyterians," he corrected. "Also called Swarm. You are right. We are fairly certain that is what 626 saw. We still have to make sure, but we believe they are most likely candidates. Question is, though, why did they take Little Girl? They are war-like species and only want things they can use. So why go to primitive planet away from everything? Because they think Little Girl is useful. Which is good since they take care of her until they get what they want from her."

"But how did they even know about Lilo? You said they aren't part of the federation thing, right? How would they know about her?"

"Exactly," he shouted as an evil grin spread across his face. "If they are Swarm, then they should not know about Little Girl. But they did. I have an idea of how they find out. If I am right, we shall be getting answers one way or other very soon."

Nani noticed Jumba wasn't wearing his normal evil grin. This one lacked the warmth and pride he usually possessed. This one was more vindictive. It reminded her that the self-declared evil genius was also fond of his "niece" and spent about twenty-five years creating living weapons with the intention to unleash them upon the innocent universe. Stitch might not be the only one who could be dangerous in the near future.

* * *

She would be okay. She would be okay. Stitch kept reminding himself of that. He sat near the back of the passenger section of the spaceship, ignoring the sing-along Pleakley was leading the cousins in. True, he could still hear the various voices trying to sing (or snort, squeal, or growl) in pitch and failing, the hum of the engines as they traveled by using the hyper-drive, the faint thumming of the life support pumping out the metallic-smelling air, and the scattered heartbeats of his ohana huddled in the metal structure while everything outside was dead silent. He couldn't help hearing everything, though he could push them to the back of his mind. He could ignore the noise. But he couldn't ignore the absence of sound. He couldn't ignore the fact he couldn't hear her voice or her heartbeat. All he could do was repeat the belief that she would be okay.

Jumba had a plan, there were cousins coming along to help, and the Captain of the Galactic Armada (formerly known as Stupid Head) was going to meet them at Turo. Lilo was getting the best rescue possible. He had to remember that. If anyone could save her, they could. And they _would_. She would be okay.

The scent of sea salt encrusted in his fur was fading. He could smell the rest of his surroundings again and the effect of the life support wasn't the only thing his nose was picking up. The scent of worry, fear, and anger clung to his cousins, just like he knew it came from himself. None of the experiments liked the idea of Lilo being in trouble. She was the one, after all, who helped all of them find homes and purposes with their lives. And none of them were completely certain about what would happen next. Not even Stitch could banish all doubts.

He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms across his chest. His thoughts wouldn't stop racing through his mind. Scenarios and calculations continued to form, devising so many ways Lilo could come to harm in the time she was missing. The likelihood of each possibility was easily figured out by the super-computer-speeds of his brain. He couldn't help how easily the scenarios flashed through his mind, showing him hundreds of ways she could be battered, bruised, scratched, smashed, crushed, _shattered_...

And even worse was the plans that formed almost against his will. Ways to destroy their spaceships. Ways to destroy their cities. Ways to destroy _them_. It was too easy to imagine. And part of him, the part of him that loved chaos and hated the idea of someone taking away Lilo, almost wanted to consider the scenarios. That was why his inner mantra about how she would be okay was so important. He needed to remember that he was good and that he couldn't let Lilo down. Because she _would_ be back. She had to come back...

His ears perked forward as the sounds of footsteps joined the rest of the background noise, but Stitch didn't bother opening his eyes. He knew who was approaching, the sound a familiar one and the fragrance of her preferred bubble bath undeniable. He just didn't want to look at the older girl, didn't want to see the disappointment in her face since he couldn't keep her sister safe.

She sat down beside him. For a moment, she remained silent and still. He almost opened his eyes to see what she was doing. Then Nani sighed heavily.

"We'll find her. We'll find her and bring her home," the young woman said. "My sister will be all right. She has to be."

"Ih," he said quietly. "We get Lilo back. Chi chabita."

He was a little surprised when the older girl gently pulled him into her lap. Then her arms wrapped around him in a half-hug, half-cuddle position. Stitch remembered her doing the same thing to Lilo sometimes, stroking her hair gently as they watched a movie on the couch or the time Lilo caught the flu. It was a familiar act, but not one he was generally on the receiving end of from her.

But it felt nice to be held in the arms of someone older and larger. It made him feel safe, secure, and reassured that they would fix everything. Granted, he knew he was physically more formidable than her, but that didn't alter the sensation of comfort. It helped to quiet the doubts and slowed his racing thoughts for the moment, just like how he felt better after Jumba promised to fix everything. He briefly wondered if this was what it was like to have a mother. It wasn't as nice as a hug from Lilo, but it felt better than just sitting alone with his thoughts. It just seemed so comforting and nice to be held.

And maybe Nani needed comfort too. She was, after all, holding him the same way she would Lilo. She wanted her sister back just as much as he did. She might even feel the gnawing loneliness, the tight knot in the chest, and the sensation of drowning that Stitch couldn't completely banish. But maybe holding onto him made those feelings better for her just like it made him feel less miserable. He wasn't certain if he deserved to be comforted by the older girl since it was his fault that Lilo was missing in the first place (he should have saved her...), but Nani definitely deserved it.

So while she stroked his head, he nuzzled her gently in return. He kept his eyes closed, listening to the ship engines, the voices of his cousins and Pleakley, the steady beat of Nani's heart, and the first few notes of the slow and familiar lullaby as she began to hum Aloha 'Oe. For the moment, his fast working brain grew still and his thoughts quieted.

* * *

Everything looked the same and boring. Lilo couldn't believe how dull a building on an alien world could be. The smooth brown walls of the endless hallways all looked the same. There were no pictures, no decorations, and almost no signs. There weren't even any windows. It was just bare and empty.

Well, not completely empty. Occasionally she saw another bug alien going through a door or traveling in the opposite direction of her and Pua. Lilo found it interesting that the other orange praying mantis people met Pua's gaze briefly like an equal. The yellow ones, the sort of murky greenish-brown ones, and the chocolate brown ones lowered their eyes and flattened their antennas submissively when they encountered Lilo's escort. And the grayish-blue ones almost cringed and hid behind their strangely-shaped push-brooms while Pua didn't even acknowledge their existence. It didn't take long for the girl to figure out that the colors of their exoskeleton determined not only their jobs, but also their rank in society. And while the royal red queen was obviously the highest and most important color, orange was also apparently a good rank.

"Why?" asked Lilo, abruptly ending the silence.

"Why what?" Pua said, tilting her head.

"Why do you pick your jobs based on what color you are when you hatch? I mean, that seems like a silly way to decide on the one true place you belong."

"It is not our place to question such things. Our roles within the Swarm are clearly defined from the start. Our assigned tasks to serve the queen, the amount of glory our actions can bring to the Swarm, who should be selected as mates to produce future generations to strengthen the Swarm, and essentially what to expect out of our lives are decided from the beginning. It has been this way since the Swarm first conquered the first visitors to our planet and we took their spaceship as the spoils of battle, letting us expand our glorious forces to other worlds."

Lilo frowned as they passed another doorway with a few brown bug people inside, "But that's crazy. What if an orange Swarm member didn't like fighting? Or a yellow one was bad at science? What if someone wanted to be a teacher, a painter, or a farmer, but they were the wrong color? You can't decide someone's entire life the moment they are born. Even when Jumba made experiments specifically designed to do certain things, their one true place was sometimes really different. Like Sparky working at the lighthouse or Babyfier at the animal shelter or Slugger helping kids learn to play baseball and softball. They weren't mean for those jobs when Jumba made them, but they're good at it and they're happy."

"It does not matter," said Pua. "And we have no need for painters or farmers. Artistic expression is a foolish waste and we obtain food and other resources by conquering other species. We are meant for far greater things than agriculture."

"But what happens when you run out?"

"Then we conquer more worlds and take theirs."

"That won't work," the little girl said, remembering fragments from her books and random conversations involving Jumba and Pleakley. "The more you expand, the more resources you need. If you take over more planets, you'll have more mouths to feed and you'll have to ship the food to all your other planets. The bigger the Swarm gets the worse it gets. You'll have to keep taking over more and more worlds, but you'll also have to keep doing it faster and faster. Eventually you won't be able keep up. That's why Pleakley said it was important for a species to expand only at a sustainable rate and why Jumba said it would be so easy to toss an evil experiment into the economy and unleash chaos. Your queen should have noticed by now."

"Silence," she snapped sharply, causing Lilo and a nearby bluish insectoid to jump.

Actually, now that the little girl thought about it, the blue bug person was paying a lot more attention to them than any of the others they'd passed. He'd even been pushing his strange broom in their direction, allowing him to follow for quite a while. He'd been around long enough for Lilo to notice another difference between the ranks besides just colors; the praying mantis-like pinchers were rather large for the orange bug people and grew smaller down the line until the blue ones were left with skinny, delicate limbs. Lilo also noticed that he'd been staring at Pua almost exactly like how David sometimes looked at Nani.

No longer actively escorting the girl down the hall and instead just standing in place with a glare on her insectoid features, Pua said, "Queen Soltus is beyond questioning. Her decisions and orders are for the benefit of the Swarm. We have followed these methods for generations. And you dare to question her wisdom in ruling us? If our society is so unstable, then how could we continue to emerge victorious? The Swarm is unstoppable and perfect. Our traditions ensure that we are the best we can be and our queen helps maintain that perfection."

"If everything you do is supposed to make sure every part of the Swarm is as good as possible so that everyone as a group is the best, then why are jobs chosen by appearance rather than talent and skill?" Lilo asked, crossing her arms. "If you want the best army, isn't it smarter to use the toughest and strongest fighters instead of just using people who look alike? And wouldn't you get better inventions if all your scientists are geniuses instead of just whoever is yellow? Nani says sometimes it takes more time and energy to do things the right way, but it's better than just doing them the easy way. Sounds like you're taking the easy way to pick people's jobs rather than the best way."

When her escort didn't immediately respond to the girl's words, Lilo turned her attention to the grayish-blue praying mantis who seemed to be paying attention to the conversation too. He was certainly braver than the other blue bug people, meeting her gaze. As long as Pua or any other insectoid alien didn't look at him, he seemed willing to watch and listen. That made him different than the other blue ones.

"I'm going to call you Kekoa," she declared, startling him. "It means 'the courageous.' Maybe I'll see you again."

When Pua glanced in his direction with a look of confusion that suggested she'd not even noticed the fact she wasn't alone with Lilo, he looked suitably submissive and anxious at being seen. The moment she looked away and dismissed his presence as unimportant, however, the girl could see a hint of pleasure on his face. Kekoa would certain be a good name for him.

"The Yellows are waiting," said Pua, obviously trying to ignore the previous conversation. "We should hurry."

"Lead the way," Lilo shrugged, wondering if her companion would forget about everything she'd said or if Pua would consider her words later.

Either way, she'd have to wait and see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, she's named another one. That's sort of what Lilo does. And I decided that the Grand Councilwoman deserved an actual name instead of just a title. So she's Ororalin Lyora and she's originally from Tweslyrode. Of course, no one uses her name since she identified by her role within the Galactic Federation rather than as an individual, but she still deserves to have one. As for Urca, I made up her name and species. And yes, she has a bit of a crush on Reuben. Unfortunately, she's not intended to have a huge role in this story. I just wanted an outsider's view on Reuben and Gantu, so she got the job.


	5. Studying the Specimen

Stitch was absolutely shocked to realize he'd fallen asleep. He'd been absolutely certain that he wouldn't be able to do that with the knowledge that Lilo was missing and that it was his fault for not protecting her. But somehow, regardless of how tightly wound he felt and the way his mind kept racing before, he found himself waking up.

A quick look showed that he was still on Nani's lap, the older girl holding onto him gently while dozing slightly. He remembered feeling slightly more relaxed while she held him and hummed a lullaby, but apparently he'd calmed down more than he expected. Or perhaps he'd simply exhausted himself with worry to the point sleep claimed him. Regardless, the experiment did feel a little better than before. He had no doubt that the previous problems with his mind devising so many scenarios, his desires to destroy trying to surface, and the waves of guilt trying to drown him would return soon enough. But at least he was calmer for the moment.

That didn't change the fact that he did miss Lilo and was worried about her. He wanted her back. And nothing in the universe would stop him until she was back and safe again.

Turning his head slightly, Stitch caught a glimpse out one of the port windows of the ship. He'd only been to the planet a handful of times in his entire life, but he recognized Turo. Soon they would have answers. And when they had those answers, he could start looking for her.

"Soon, Lilo," he whispered. "Chi chabita."

* * *

Lilo was gently nudged into a room with bright lights and a slightly paler shade of brown for the walls. There were machine against the walls that didn't quite seem to match each other. Some were sharp-edged, others were curvy, some were shiny metal, others were a dull black or grey, and one was a swirly white thing that reminded the girl of a vanilla ice cream cone. There were buttons and dials and switches on the different objects, but none of them matched or even looked similar between devices. There were screens on some of them, showing scribbles and pictures that didn't make any sense to the girl, but none of the screens seemed to match each other either. There were round ones, square ones, rectangle ones, and a triangular one that only seemed to show different shades of pink. They didn't match; none of them looked like they belonged together in the same room.

As she thought about it, Lilo decided they didn't even look like they were meant to be used by the praying mantis people. Some of the stuff seemed too high off the ground to be used easily while others were too low, making it easier for the child to see the buttons with odd symbols on them. They lacked the normal uniformity of Jumba's machines, even if some of his more recent inventions were cobbled together with human technology. It reminded her of someone tossing a bunch of puzzle pieces from different boxes together and trying to make a picture out of the assorted pieces.

In addition to the strange mixture of machines, there were a few metal tables and what looked like glass boxes and tubes large enough for someone to stand inside them. On a different table, a smaller one, there were strange metal objects with long handles lined up neatly in rows. She didn't recognize any of those objects, but they still reminded her of the shiny tools that she'd see in a dentist's office.

Finally, scattered all around the room were yellow versions of the praying mantis people. There were slight differences in the shades of yellow, like if someone pulled out bright sunshine-like colors from a giant crayon box and used every single one, but none of them were too close to orange or green that Lilo would make the mistake of what color they were supposed to be. Most were close to the same height as Pua, though a couple of them that were carrying things back and forth were shorter. The aliens were working at the different machines, which sometimes looked like a struggle to the child and added more evidence to her belief that not all the equipment was supposed to go together. Others were just staring at the screens, their antennas perked forward as they looked at the strange symbols. If she ignored the multiple arms and the giant eyes, the girl could easily imagine them as lab coat-wearing scientists like she would see in her cartoons or even Jumba when he was in more of a "scientist" mood rather than a "mad scientist" one.

If it wasn't for getting a good look at Kekoa earlier, Lilo knew she wouldn't have noticed that the pincher-claw arms on the yellow praying mantis people were a little smaller than those on the orange ones. The difference wasn't as extreme as with the Blue, but it was there. The spiny spikes on the inside edge, the ones that looked like they would stab into someone if they were grabbed tightly like how real praying mantis's catch prey, weren't as long and sharp either. That seemed to make it easier not to break things when they were handling the different long instruments. What worked well for catching grasshoppers for dinner probably didn't work as well at picking up pencils or something. Not that Lilo saw anything that looked like a pencil. A pencil probably would be hard to use anyway. Their larger arms didn't have fingers and the smaller arms only had three fingers. They wouldn't have the dexterity for pencils.

"It was requested that she be brought for examination and testing," said Pua, interrupting the child's thoughts. "Where do you require her?"

A yellow alien gestured with one of his bigger arms and said, "That examining table should suffice for now. We will be focusing on gathering the baseline information at this time. More detailed and invasive procedures will be performed later. Your task is to keep subject in place and to force it if necessary to cooperate."

"Understood," said Pua, inclining her head momentarily before turning her attention back to Lilo. "Do you require assistance following his command? You are shorter than most of the member of your species and the surface may be too high for you to reach on your own."

The girl looked over at the metal table and then back at the orange praying mantis. It was nice of Pua to ask, but she was good at climbing. Between just playing around the island and hunting experiments with Stitch, she could handle most it.

Lilo shook her head, "I'll be fine."

The girl easily scrambled up and perched herself on the edge of the table, her legs swinging freely as she looked around the room at the different aliens. She found it kind of creepy that the praying mantis people didn't seem to blink or have eyelids, so they always looked like they were staring with their huge eyes. She knew people who were mean would say that thick glasses make someone look "bug-eyed," but they didn't know what they were talking about. Real bug-eyes were huge and took up most of their head. And at least people with glasses blink sometimes. She almost giggled as she imagined what one of the yellow praying mantis people would look like wearing glasses.

A second one of the yellow aliens came up to the table, glancing momentarily at Pua, before turning his full attention to the girl. Gripped by the hands on his smaller arms was some kind of object that looked like it belonged either in a dentist office or a toolbox. Or maybe an electronics store since there seemed to be a tiny screen further down the long handle. There were three prongs on the end, arranged in a triangle. It wasn't particularly sharp-looking though. The tips were rounded and shiny instead of true points. The alien pressed it momentarily against her forehead, the device buzzing slightly through the contact and forcing Lilo to struggle against the desire to giggle. He left it there for several minutes, producing a soft clicking sound that reminded the girl of someone humming thoughtfully to themselves.

"Interesting," the yellow praying mantis eventually said, studying the small screen on the instrument.

"What?" asked Lilo.

When the alien didn't answer, she turned her attention to the strange instruments the alien doctor person was using. In addition to the three-pronged device, he quickly selected a long-handled object with a large cone on the end that looked like a larger version of the thing doctors use to look in people's eyes and ears. In fact, he quickly started poking it in her ears and nose. Once again, he studied the screens that rested in the handles of the tools before he moved the instrument in front of her eyes.

"What are you doing?" the child asked, refusing to give up on finding out information.

"Currently, we are examining several sensory organs to determine the strength and range of those senses," he answered finally, his tone rather distracted. "We need to compare them to the Swarm, other known species, and the limited records we managed to gain access to from the Federation about humans to see if there are any anomalies. We have already concluded that your species does not rely on the sense of smell as much as many species do. The lack of antennas already suggested that conclusion, but we have encountered other populations who have other methods of detecting scent. Your species, however, seems to be more concerned with visual stimuli. While you do not have the ability to detect all of the wavelengths of light that members of the Swarm are able to, you are able to see most of them that we can. Not the ultraviolet light, but the rest of light spectrum is the same between our two species. Tactile sensations, however, are more intense for your species than ours. You are more sensitive to lighter and fainter forms of those stimuli."

He paused a moment, using the smaller arm not holding the tool to lift up a section of her hair and looked at it closely. His antennas twitched forward as he studied her hair. Lilo didn't know how her hair could be that interesting, but maybe it was because bugs didn't have it.

On second thought, that wasn't quite correct. She could spot tiny, short, fine hairs along the giant praying mantis people. They were almost impossible to spot unless they caught the light just right. But they didn't have the long hair on top of their head like humans, so it was probably kind of strange.

The yellow alien gave the handful of hair a quick tug, earning a squeak of surprise from Lilo before he let go. The girl then glared at him in the hopes that he would feel guilty about messing around with her for science, but he didn't even seem to notice her expression. His next selected tool was a long-handled device with a clear circle on the end covered in bumps.

"Human, open your mouth," he said.

As Lilo started to inform the yellow praying mantis that she actually did have a real name, he popped the clear circle into her mouth as soon as it opened. He briefly rubbed the bumpy object along the inside of her cheeks before pulling it back out and handing it to another yellow alien, one who appeared to be the same one who spoke to Pua earlier. The doctor-like praying mantis person, who Lilo was currently trying to decide a name for, then gestured towards one of the clear boxes in the corner of the room.

"We need you to step into the containment unit," he stated.

"Why?" asked Lilo, tilting her head even as she slid off the table.

"There are sensors in the structure that will take measurements and perform internal scans that are easier to accomplish than by more direct means," he said, glancing briefly towards Pua as if he was nervous that the little girl would do as he asked.

Narrowing her eyes at the Yellow, she said, "No. Not until someone around here starts using my name. It isn't even a hard one to say. _Lilo_. I want you to call me 'Lilo,' not 'human.' If you do that, I won't cause too much trouble while you run your tests. That sounds fair, right?"

"Her species seems to have an obsession with names," the orange alien said. "She does not comprehend that the individual has negligible importance and it is only the entire Swarm that matters. She has repeatedly insisted on being addressed by her individual name and seems to find it easier to use one for me. She claims that it was important that she gave me a name."

The yellow praying mantis tilted his head in curiosity, "What a strange behavior. Is it cultural or something strictly limited to this particular specimen? Does providing of a name serve as more than a quaint method of identification? Perhaps a rite of passage, demonstrating that the member is approaching the age of mating. She is supposed to be an immature sample of her species, after all."

"Hey, I'm plenty mature. Nani just sometimes says I'm not when she's really annoyed with me and Stitch," Lilo complained.

Apparently ignoring her outburst, yellow praying mantis said, "It is possible to force her into the containment unit, but it might damage her or the sensors if she struggled. Her cooperation with testing would be preferred to ensure the readings are accurate and the minimal amount of collateral damage occurs."

"It would be simpler to go along with her minor request," Pua said.

" _Lilo_ ," the yellow alien said, stressing her name carefully, "we need you to step into the containment unit so that we can take measurements and perform internal scans."

The girl smiled at this small victory. It wasn't that much, but at least the bug aliens were treating her like a person instead of a science experiment. Well, they _were_ still treating her like an experiment, but it was at least a little bit of an improvement. The Swarm was viewing her as both and she could work with that. After all, Stitch and the cousins were both people and experiments.

"What sort of measurements?" she asked, heading toward the clear cube obediently.

"The general height, weight, and body proportions," said the yellow praying mantis. "Density of your internal skeletal structure, which are necessarily thicker and more solid since your species lacks a proper exoskeleton, are also recorded, along with the composition of the skeletal structure and muscle system, and a general representation of the internal organs present in your species. More detail scans will have to be calibrated later, but the basics can still be handled now."

Frowning briefly for a moment as she considered his words, Lilo asked, "So is it like an x-ray? Does it just take pictures of my insides? Or is it going to horribly mutate me and have me start growing extra arms and a second head? Will I start dripping green slime?"

His antennas twitched a few times and his head tilted to the side at her question, but he eventually seemed to understand her question. The girl didn't understand why they seemed to have so much trouble figuring out what she said. They were the ones who used big words instead of making things simpler. If it wasn't for having Jumba as part of the ohana, she wouldn't be able to understand half of what they were saying.

"While the first example would not be completely accurate, that is essentially what we shall be doing," he said as she reached the clear container. "There will be no mutation, growth of extra limbs, or… green slime."

"Okay," she nodded.

The box was mostly clear and uniformly smooth. There was a thin line of metal along the top and a display with buttons on one side, but it didn't even seem to have any visible hinges as another yellow alien opened it and Lilo stepped inside. There was plenty of space in the container for a couple of more people, but there didn't seem to be any air holes. The girl found that to be a silly mistake since someone was always supposed to poke holes in jars and boxes they use to catch bugs, frogs, and turtles in. On the other hand, the containers she and Stitch used to use to catch the cousins didn't have air holes either and they never had any problems. And the aliens didn't seem worried, so Lilo decided there was probably more than enough air in the clear box anyway.

"While the process can be accomplished regardless, it would be more efficient if you remain still," the yellow praying mantis doctor person said.

Lilo started to nod her understanding, but quickly stopped herself since he asked her not to move. The thin line of metal near the top of the box clicked a few times as he pressed the control panel with his fingers. When a light abruptly came on and started shining down from the line of metal, the girl almost jumped in surprise. But she managed to keep still as it moved up and down her body like a white laser pointer, though she closed her eyes tightly whenever the light moved up to her face and near her eyes.

There was an occasional beep as she stood there, trying to keep perfectly still. As she waited, Lilo noticed the beeps were getting closer together like some form of countdown. She could also hear the yellow alien clicking softly to himself as he focused on the control panel. He wasn't talking, but he just kept clicking softly as he worked. Maybe it was the alien bug equivalent of humming or muttering under their breath while working on things.

After a little while, the beeping and the light stopped, letting Lilo open her eyes again. There were now three yellow praying mantis people staring at the control panel while Pua continued to watch the girl. One of them was the exact same shade of yellow as the lines that ran down the middle of the road while another reminded her of lemonade. The main yellow one, the one she'd finally decided on a name, was more of warm and darker shade.

One of the newcomers held a large rectangular object with his bigger arms while pressing smaller sections of it carefully with his hands on the smaller arms. It took the child a few moments to figure out what he or she might be doing, but Lilo finally guess the device was supposed to be like some of the touch screen computers and the lemonade-yellow praying mantis person was working on it. Maybe they were even writing things down that way since pencils didn't seem to be used by anyone in the room.

The girl also noticed that the lemonade-yellow one tended to tap on the flat object more right after the main yellow alien muttered something. Lilo decided they were probably recording the measurements that the clear cube produced. She could hear him rattling off numbers, but she couldn't tell if he was using inches, feet, or something else. It was actually kind of boring to hear him explain the exact length of her toes or how thick her finger bones were.

Part of her did wonder if Jumba ever wanted to do something like this, analyzing humanity and categorizing every part into nice little numbers. He usually preferred to build and create, but he might enjoy having these types of tools to study other species. It might even give him ideas. The thought of him taking a bunch of these machines to put either in his room or on his ship unfortunately managed to bring back the feelings of homesickness and dread that she would never see her family again. The girl quickly forced her thoughts in another direction, quietly reminding herself that Stitch and the others would come for her.

The yellow praying mantis was still reciting numbers while his apparent assistant kept tapping on the flat rectangular object as he spoke. The girl tried to remain patient, but couldn't help fidgeting after the wait started to grow longer and longer. Lilo and boredom rarely got along. Usually she could do something. Whether it was draw, play, practice her hula, watch television, or scour the island for experiments, the girl could always find a way to occupy her time. This time, there was nothing really to do except listen to someone ramble a bunch of numbers.

She glanced over at Pua, her expression as pleading and tired as she could manage. Lilo didn't know if the orange praying mantis would be able to convince the yellow ones to let her out of the box or to do something else, but she was getting so bored and tired of just standing there while he listed off the information. But while the girl's face might have been enough to convince most adults of various species that she dealt with regularly, it didn't seem to have much of an effect on Pua.

Rolling her eyes briefly to the ceiling and the diamond-shaped light sources embedded in the surface, Lilo started swinging her arms back and forth. If she ignored the fact everyone looked like giant bugs, the entire experience wasn't too different than a normal doctor's visit without anyone trying to give her a vaccination yet. She didn't find it surprising that she was getting bored. The girl was about to start humming, but quickly changed her mind since distracting the yellow aliens might make everything take longer.

By the point where Lilo was considering just sitting down while waiting, the main yellow praying mantis person looked over at Pua and inclined his head briefly.

"We have enough for now on… _Lilo_ ," he said carefully, "to start our research. While we go over the information, it would be best to store her in one of the cells. That should keep her safe and secure until we are ready for further tests."

"Sure, just lock me up like an animal at the zoo," she complained. "Why not? It isn't like I'm a real person or anything."

Pua stepped towards her, the spear-like blasting weapon still in her grasp. Lilo knew that she didn't have much choice in the matter. She would have to go with them. But she didn't plan on leaving without at least one final word in the matter.

Pointing dramatically at the main Yellow, the girl declared, "You will regret this, Inupani. Don't say I didn't warn you."

If it was possible for the giant praying mantis scientist to blink, she was certain that he would have. Instead, he tilted his head and stared at her in confusion.

"I do not understand," he said.

"Your name. I picked out a name for you," Lilo explained. "I picked one out for Pua earlier, but the rest of you need names to. So I'm going to call you Inupani. It means 'a person of great wisdom' and you seem to be a smart guy. Even if all of you are crazy because you chose your jobs based on colors, you still would have probably made a great scientist regardless."

While the newly named alien glanced between her and the rest of the room in shock and bewilderment, the girl grinned towards the other two Yellows nearby. The lemonade-colored assistant and the quieter one without the touch screen. They needed names too, after all.

Pointing towards the assistant with the touch screen, Lilo declared, "You will be Akamai. That name means 'smart,' so I hope you like it. Even if you mostly just work on that flat computer screen and put in what he tells you, I think you're probably pretty smart too."

The third one, the bright yellow of a road line and who seemed to understand what was coming next, started backing away from the girl as if gaining an individual name was a contagious disease. Lilo, not wanting to lose momentum, actually took a few steps towards the confused aliens. If none of them wanted names, then they shouldn't have kidnapped her in the first place.

"I'm going to call you… Mamo," she said after struggling a second to decide. "That's also the name of a yellow flower."

"You are not choosing a name about wisdom?" the Yellow asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

Lilo shrugged, "I was starting to run out. That doesn't mean you aren't smart. It just means you have a name about flowers and the color yellow instead."

"Why does it matter which name she selects to use?" asked Pua. "It is merely her preference to use one. We do not need names and we will forget them the moment she is gone."

"You are right, Orange," said Mamo, head inclining momentarily in respect. "Forgive this Yellow for the foolishness."

Gesturing with her weapon, Pua ordered, "Move, Lilo. You must be escorted to a secure cell on the lower level. There will be no further delays."

Holding her hands up in surrender, the girl headed towards the door. As she and her guard left, she thought she heard one last quiet comment from the scientists.

" _My_ name is the best one, of course."

* * *

The Grand Councilwoman made sure to be there when they arrived. She sent most of the others away, promising to handle the necessary paperwork and such later. The small ohana didn't need to be bothered by too many other people at this moment. She also didn't want the news of an ambassador of the Galactic Federation becoming known yet. Minimizing those involved would help control the spread of information. Especially if someone within the Federation was somehow connected to the abduction.

She wasn't surprised that there were a few experiments accompanying Dr. Jookiba and Agent Pleakley. She knew Stitch would accompany them, but the presence of a few more was understandable. The Grand Councilwoman recognized Splodyhead, Slushy, Kixx, and Slugger from the reports, though this was one of the first opportunities she'd had to see them in person. The one that did surprise her, however, was the human accompanying the group.

Ms. Pelekai always seemed like a nice enough young woman who did her best to care for her sister and the other members of her ohana, but she had never left the planet and never seemed to have the urge to do so. Even during the ceremony honoring the rehabilitation of all the experiments, Nani Pelekai remained on Earth. True, the official explanation for her absence was that her job required her presence at the time, but the Grand Councilwoman held her own theories that the older sister was more content with her planet and did not share Lilo Pelekai's adventurous spirit in regards towards other worlds.

But it seemed that the kidnapping of her sister was enough to bring her to another world. There was a nervousness about the young woman as she stepped forward, glancing around with unease and awe. She wasn't as comfortable as the younger girl always seemed. But she did not let her concerns stop her from doing what was necessary. That was a noble trait to find in a guardian.

"Welcome to Turo," greeted the Grand Councilwoman solemnly. "We will do what we can to help find Lilo."

"Good," Jumba stated bluntly. "Because I am to be needing to speak to an old colleague that I am to be believing might know something."

There was something dangerous in the Kweltikwan's tone. It reminded the Grand Councilwoman quite strongly that though Experiment 626 was once a dangerous and violent monster that wanted to destroy everything in the universe, Dr. Jookiba was the one who _made_ him that way in the first place.

"Take me to Hamsterviel. I am needing to be seeing my dear friend," he said with a vicious and predatory grin. " _Alone_."


	6. Sowing Seeds of Doubt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we get to see a rather different side of Jumba in this update. We've witnessed the "genius" part of his personality quite often. The "evil" part… not as much. But we do know that he created and programmed all those experiments. And he did fight Stitch directly in the first film, holding his own quite effectively for most of that time and destroying the house without any real sign of damage to himself. In my opinion, that makes him potentially pretty scary if you end up on his bad side. Which is something that a certain rodent-like alien is about to discover up close and personal.
> 
> Also, due to the fact his species was never identified, I came up with a species name for Hamsterviel. Since the subfamily Gerbillinae includes various species of (surprise!) gerbils, I decided to name the alien species "Gerbillinites." Perhaps not the cleverest name, but it should serve my purposes at least.

After it became clear that none of his past connections were going to help him break out of prison, Hamsterviel started focusing on converting as much technology as possible to escape and mentally vowing revenge against those that turned him down. Except Queen Soltus. He wasn't dumb enough to seek revenge against the Swarm, let alone their leader. But for the rest of them who left him in jail, he would soon escape and make them suffer.

Footsteps interrupted his thoughts about revenge and his subtle attempts to rewire the door control mechanism from the inside. It didn't make sense. Even with the increased rounds by guards after his previous escape, it was too soon for them to be back again. Hamsterviel spared just a moment to wonder about the change before hurrying to make himself appear to be dangling from the ceiling like normal.

"Someone here to see you, Hamsterwheel," announced the guard as he stepped towards the cell.

"Hamster _viel_ ," he yelled. "Why is it so difficult? It isn't like my name is one of those confusing names that cause confusion. It is so simple."

"Regardless, you have a visitor," the guard stated. "The Grand Councilwoman said to leave the two of you alone. It is a little out of the ordinary, but who am I to argue with her?"

"Of course. Who could argue with such a bossy boss-like woman?" muttered the white-furred prisoner. 'Sure, send them in. Maybe I can arrange hors d'oeuvres or something."

Part of him briefly hoped that it would turn out to be an ally who changed their mind and came to break him out after all. But then he caught sight of a very familiar Kweltikwan scowling at him as the guard opened the door panel momentarily to let him in. Hamsterviel couldn't help frowning in confusion at his presence. What was Jumba doing here?

The scientist stood there for a moment, waiting until the only ones who could overhear them would be the deactivated Leroys in the neighboring cells. Hamsterviel tried to glare at his ex-partner, but the effect wasn't exactly perfect due to him dangling upside down from the ceiling.

"What brings you to this particular corner of the galaxy?" asked Hamsterviel dryly. "Feeling guilty about leaving me to rot in this imprisoning prison?"

"Not so imprisoning as you are making it seem, I am thinking," Jumba said tensely, slamming his fist on a particular panel.

Unfortunately, due to his various rewiring and alterations to his cell, that particular panel caused the ceiling restraints to abruptly unlock. And thanks to gravity, Hamsterviel fell with only time for a short shriek before hitting the ground hard.

"Great, now they are going to move me to another cell and I'll have to start over again," he muttered. "Is this any way to treat an old business partner?"

"No. But a traitor? Maybe," said the Kweltikwan.

Scrambling to his feet, Hamsterviel yelled, " _Once_. I turned you over to the Galactic Federation only _once_. You can't keep being a complaining complainer about it."

"Who have you been talking to in here?"

"No one," he lied. "I have been tightly locked up tight. You are my first visitor."

The words were barely out of his mouth before a large hand grabbed him, yanked him off the floor, and slammed Hamsterviel against the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of him. He found himself staring up at four glaring eyes. For the first time since Jumba's arrival, he began to worry about the unexpected visit and what it meant.

"Entolyterians came to Earth. They took Little Girl," snarled the larger alien. "No one in Swarm should have known about her. Only a few people in the Federation even know about Little Girl and none of them would be speaking to the Swarm. None of them except maybe you. They are exactly the type of people you would be making shady deals with and sharing secrets. And you keep finding ways to communicate even in prison cells. So I ask again. Who have you been talking to? And what did you tell them?" His furious expression never wavering, Jumba leaned closer and dropped his voice into a venomous hiss. "Be keeping in mind that in order to create experiments, I first learned the biology of many sentient species. That is including Gerbillinites. If you lie or try to hide anything that could help us save Little Girl, you will not have to be worrying about what 626 will do. I promise I will break you out, take you to my lab, and see how far I can twist your biology and DNA before you are destroyed. And it will be taking a long time. Are you to be understanding me, Hamsterviel?"

Between the tight pressure of the Kweltikwan's grip and pure terror, the white-furred alien couldn't immediately squeak out a response. Part of him desperately wished that one of the guards would appear. At least they would only lock him in a different cell, away from his ex-partner.

He knew Jumba was dead serious about his threat. Hamsterviel knew the Kweltikwan fairly well after so many years. He wasn't a cruel or directly violent individual in normal circumstances. He might create deadly and dangerous experiments to unleash upon the unsuspected universe, but Jumba rarely hurt someone. He was smart, relatively strong and tough like other Kweltikwans, but he was not overly aggressive. It took something specific to spark his temper enough to push him into that sort of thing; usually insulting his intelligence to an extreme degree would be the most effective.

And yet Hamsterviel held no doubts that the Kweltikwan would do exactly what he threatened without hesitation. The little Earth Girl compelled loyalty from almost everyone she encountered. The Gerbillinite was very much aware of that fact from his observations regarding the experiments. And it was quite clear that even the formerly evil genius felt protective of her. He was also apparently willing to revisit his past evil title to ensure she was saved.

"Talk. _Now_ ," said Jumba, loosening his grip only a fraction to make breathing a little easier.

"I… I tried to call my old contacts," he stammered quickly. "To… to find someone to free me from this confining confinement. The only one to respond was… was Queen Soltus."

The Kweltikwan grimaced, "You contacted the leader of the Swarm? What is it you were thinking?"

"Well, she is the one who was funding the funds to create Experiment 626 and the others," he answered. "Of course, she was upset about not receiving the living weapons she was promised and wasn't very eager to help. I… I tried to explain that their programming was ruined by that no-good, do-gooder little girl and she became very interested. The queen wanted to know how she converts experiments and if others could be taught to do it. Then she hung up on me. That's all I know. Honest."

"Swarm Queen wanted Little Girl because she can turn experiments from bad to good?" muttered Jumba, the fury in his four eyes burning down to a more thoughtful expression. "She would insist on bringing Little Girl to the Swarm home world rather than any of their other conquered planets. And she will be most carefully secured."

The white-furred individual glanced down at Jumba's hand that still held him pinned against the wall. The Kweltikwan seemed to be distracted by his thoughts and was no longer focusing on Hamsterviel. Granted, it was nice that he was no longer glaring at the smaller being. On the other hand, it was getting very uncomfortable being pressed against the wall the longer Jumba held him like that.

"Any chance you could let me down?" Hamsterviel asked. "Now that I have told you everything I know about what happened?"

His expression immediately darkened as Jumba refocused on his ex-partner. Hamsterviel swallowed involuntarily in response to the renewed death glare. When would the guard show back up and drag the evil genius away? Staying alone with Jumba for any length of time was becoming a more and more concerning idea and he was afraid that it could end very badly for the Gerbillinite.

"You had better to be hoping that Little Girl remains unharmed," he stated. "Because if anything should happen to her, I will come back to make you regret ever existing in first place."

Before Hamsterviel could react, Jumba let go and the smaller individual dropped to the floor. Without a single word more, the Kweltikwan stepped out of the cell and the door quietly slid close behind him. Whether or not Hamsterviel wanted to admit it out loud, he felt himself relax a lot the moment there was a thick, sturdy, clear barrier between him and Jumba.

For a few minutes, the small figure remained exactly where he fell. Then he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned back towards the door, half afraid Jumba had returned for some reason. It was only when he spotted the uniform that Hamsterviel realized it was the guard from before. Which likely meant the Kweltikwan remembered to mention the new "modifications" to the cell and that he was now in trouble.

Sighing in resignation, Hamsterviel said, "Fine. Take me to the next prison cell."

* * *

There were days that she was thankful that her exoskeleton was just orange enough to qualify her for the role of as a warrior. The chitin might be more of an orange-yellow than she'd prefer, but the caretakers still felt her coloration and larger primary limbs were enough of an indication that she should serve Queen Soltus in combat. Occasionally, in the wrong lighting, someone would mistake her for a Yellow strategist or weapon designer. While they were by no means the lowest group, she was still superior to those who help plan battles. She and her fellow warriors were held in higher esteem than any other member of the Swarm save the Red royals who rule. They were the ones who conquered other worlds so that the Swarm might thrive. They deserved to be respected by those who worked below them, from the intellectual Yellows to the grey-blue laborers who were little better than the captured slaves of other species.

She was noticed and appreciated for her important role, perhaps even more so than some Oranges. She was more than a mere soldier. She was a warrior. She was entrusted in more important missions. Perhaps she would someday even be a guardian, protecting Queen Soltus with her life. The thought made her antenna straighten a little taller. Every Orange dreamed of becoming a guardian and fulfilling the greatest honor they could for the Swarm. But she was satisfied for the moment with her current honor of guarding the specimen brought back for study, the human child who insisted on being called "Lilo" and assigning names to members of the Swarm.

The name Pua already trying to assert itself into her thoughts, she _was_ a little concerned about her current duty. The child asked too many questions that hovered just at the back of her mind, threatening to influence ideas that Pua knew to be true. Her words before about how difficult it would be to maintain enough resources for the Swarm if they depended solely on what was gathered by conquering others and how it might be wiser to assign roles based on abilities rather than appearance kept trying to push their way in to her mind. She couldn't let doubt be sowed. As she escorted Lilo towards a secure cell, Pua tried to think of the child as being like any other captured member of another species.

Whenever a new planet was chosen to serve as the Swarm's next target, samples of the dominant life form were always captured and brought to the home world. Once there, the creatures would be studied for weaknesses and strategies were devised about how to combat them. Yellows would pick apart a wide sample over time, looking for variations and differences so that the plans for conquering the species would be thorough. During that time, the specimens would be under guard by warriors chosen to be both especially loyal and lethal. The fact she was selected to watch the newest creature, albeit one whose presence was meant to serve a slightly different purpose, should have provided a deep feeling of satisfaction rather than confusion and doubt.

She moved down the hall at a brisk, yet controlled pace. Her eyes took in the smooth grey walls and the occasional Blue that was cleaning the floors or carrying away refuse. She knew some species preferred to crowd and decorate chambers with various objects that served no purpose beyond being anesthetically pleasing to the eye and were a waste of time to construct when they could have been training for battle instead. The concern with such things as decorations and art was probably at least part of the reason such beings were conquered so easily by the Swarm. While there might have been a time in the distant past where fringe members of their people might have considered the possibility of such time-and-resource-wasting endeavors, but a past queen must have shown them the error of their ways. Thus, they remained focused on the practical and the hallways remained plain and uniform.

Reaching the archway at the end of the hall, she pressed the panel with one of her secondary limbs and the door slid out of sight. Inside the chamber were rows of cells, each one sealed off with a thick and transparent door. They were perfectly sealed so that the atmosphere of different planets could be replicated if needed to keep a creature alive long enough to be studied. They were empty at the moment, but that would change as specimens from a targeted planet were collected. It would provide an ideal place to keep Lilo until the Yellows chose to run further examinations on her.

Traditionally, each specific specimen would have their own guard assigned to ensure that the captured creature did not escape or killed themselves before studies were concluded. One particular species of reptilian entities the Swarm faced in the past often died in captivity due to a habit of snapping their neck rather than face defeat. The Sershess were difficult to observe and study before true invasion because of that behavior, but their planet's famous glass was taken and incorporated into the present cells and numerous other features before the Swarm used up the already manufactured pieces. So the lack of proper study did not prove to be that great of a loss.

But assigning a guard to observe captives on a one-on-one basis was still a smart decision. There was strength in numbers and multiple specimens attacking a single guard might even overwhelm the greatest warrior. It was also the same reason that only a few creatures were brought back initially until their capabilities were better understood. This was the method that was always used and it always made sense. No one ever questioned it, just like no one ever questioned the idea of gathering all their necessary resources through conquering. Lilo was the first to actually question such things and Pua was attempting not to become the second.

Trying to distract her thoughts away from almost treacherous thoughts, she studied the child as she stepped obediently into her cell. The Swarm had encountered many different species with vastly different appearances. Some were reptilian, with scales that reminded her of smaller pieces of exoskeleton. Others winged beasts with those strange and often colorful coverings called feathers, the likes of which were not found on Entolytera. A few were covered in short fine hairs similar to the ones that help provide a sense of touch through the Swarm's protective exoskeleton, though others tended to have thicker hair and lack a sensible covering of chitin. Very few species, however, would actually have a proper exoskeleton and the correct number of limbs for once. She'd never been able to figure out how any creature could evolve with less than six of them. It didn't seem practical.

Shifting her grip on the weapon held by her primary limbs, she peered into the cell. Lilo wasn't like most of the other alien species she dealt with, especially since she wasn't a full grown member. She seemed to be another squashy species with only an internal skeleton to support it. And while there were hairs on her body, they seemed to be mostly concentrated on the round head. The eyes were small and set in the front of the face, but with a protective layer of the soft covering that would occasionally drop down over the eyes. Skin seemed so fragile and useless.

Lilo was also wrapped in some form of cloth-based covering, a bright red shade and covering far more than any fabric an Entolyterian might use. While wearing some type of armor would make sense for a species missing an exoskeleton, she couldn't see how fabric would be much protection. It didn't seem to be silk and the scent seemed closer to some form of plant-based substance. Perhaps the Swarm would bring back such fabric for their own use if the planet was ever conquered.

In addition, there seemed to be only four limbs on the small human. There were the legs and the upper limbs, arms, that were closer to the Swarm's secondary limbs than the primary ones. The species lacked the stronger, spiked, grasping forelimbs that could crush through exoskeletons and pierce the more vulnerable organs within. Instead, she merely possessed the equivalent of the more versatile and delicate secondary limbs with flexible digits. But while a member of the Swarm would only have three such articulated digits on each of the secondary limb, the specimen possessed five such structures per limb. She decided the additional two digits were a poor attempt to make up for the low number of limbs.

"You know, staring is supposed to be rude," said Lilo abruptly, crossing her arms. "At least, that's what Nani says. Of course, she does tend to stare at David a little when he's not wearing a shirt, so it can't be _that_ rude."

Not really knowing how to respond to that statement, she said, "You will remain in here while the Yellows go over the information they have already gathered. It is impossible to open the cell from the inside, so do not waste time and make the attempt during my absence."

"Why? Where are you going? Are you going to see your friends and family?" she asked.

Pua tilted her head, "That does not apply to the Swarm."

"What do you mean? Don't you have friends or family?"

"Our young are raised together by some of the Browns, separated into their roles in society and trained for their duties. We do not form small family groups beyond selecting an appropriate mate so that we might keep the population of the Swarm high enough to conquer other species."

"So you don't have families?" Lilo asked, a confused and horrified expression spreading across her face. "What about friends? Aren't there people you like to spend time with that are sort of like family?"

"Companionship is a waste of time and energy that could be better used towards the betterment of the Swarm," she said slowly. Her antennas leaned back, "Specific members are equals, superiors, or inferiors. We work alongside equals, obey the orders of superiors, and command or ignore inferiors. Other interactions are unnecessary."

"That's just dumb," said the girl, her hands resting on her hips. "You need to have friends. And you _need_ a family. Everyone deserves an ohana."

The last word was confusing. It was not Standard. It was also not Tantalog, Xerminese, Entolyterish, or any other language that Pua had heard before. And since it did not seem to be a name of an individual, it must have a proper definition.

"What does 'ohana' mean?" she asked.

With a tone that suggested that the human girl had explained this topic numerous times during her lifetime, Lilo said, "Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind." She smiled slightly and added, "Or forgotten. It means that you're a part of something bigger, but you also matter as an individual person."

A curious idea. The idea of 'ohana' seemed to be that both the group as a whole and the single individual were equally important. That you could be remembered and included without denying that the collective mattered greatly. The idea of a balance between the importance of the individual and the group was strange, but not completely unpleasant. Of course, it was still inferior to the Swarm, but still…

"Warrior," a voice said, interrupting her contemplation. "Forgive this inferior one, but the specimen must be fed according to the Yellows."

She turned away from the cell and looked at the timid speaker. It was a Blue, his antennas almost pressed flat as he addressed his superior. She didn't notice or care if it was the same one that was in the halls earlier. It didn't matter. The tray balanced in the light grip of his primary limbs, far smaller and narrower than those of an Orange, was of greater importance than him.

"Studying the limited knowledge about their planet and what information they've already gathered allowed them to determine the nutritional requirements for the species. They tasked this inferior one to bring the newest captive food that will fulfill those needs," he continued, demonstrating that he was particularly talkative for a Blue.

She didn't answer the Blue. It wasn't expected of her. She did, however, reach out with one of her secondary limbs and pressed a green button long enough for the clear wall to raise a short distance off the floor. He slid the tray through the gap and she pressed a different button to lower the barrier back.

"Kekoa? Is that you?" asked Lilo, ignoring the food for a moment to stare. "It _is_ you. Nice to see you again. Did you volunteer to come here or were you just lucky enough to get picked? I hope you'll get to visit some more before I get out of here. I'd like to get to know you better."

The girl gave a small wave, apparently undeterred by the lack of response to her questions. It seemed that every member of the Swarm she encountered would be spoken to at least a little. Pua wondered if all humans were equally curious and inquisitive.

The Blue, his task complete, briefly looked at Pua before dropping his gaze back towards the ground and asked, "Is there anything that you require of this inferior one?"

"There is no task here for a Blue at the moment," she said, turning her attention back towards the trapped human child.

She barely noticed him leaving. He'd already served his purpose, after all. Once a Blue was of no further use, why bother noticing them?

"What is this?" Lilo asked.

"Nourishment."

"I know it's supposed to be food," she said, her eyes rolling in a rather fascinating manner. "The blue guy said so. But what is it, Pua?"

She glanced at the tray, noticing the brown cubes, and said, "The Yellows have devised a substance that should fulfill all of your nutritional needs, should not cause harmful interactions to your biology based on their initial studies so far and the knowledge carefully gathered from the Federation's files, and is easily replicated. It should prevent starvation."

"So it doesn't have a name or anything? And you don't eat it? It's just for humans," she said slowly, taking a small bit of one of the brown cubes. The young human's face then scrunched up and she added, "No wonder no one named this yet. It tastes horrible, Pua. It reminds me of the times that Pleakley tried to cook dog food on the stove. I think they need a new chef."

"Flavor was not taken into account when producing nourishment for your species. How different organisms react to various 'tastes' makes it difficult to predict without further studies what would be considered pleasant."

"Well, I can't eat it if it tastes like dirt."

Contemplating the matter for a moment, she relented, "The Yellows shall be informed that the substance needs to be altered to become more palatable. It would not be wise, after all, for the food to be wasted and for you to starve because you could not eat it properly."

"Aw, you do care," said Lilo before shoving the tray away. Stepping towards the clear door, she continued, "So, you said your leader is the only one who is red, right?"

"The only Red female. We always have a queen while the males can serve as her mates and represent her will on other planets. They have to be careful to only do as she wishes of them, though. Queen Soltus does not take others questioning her wisdom or disobeying her lightly."

"So she's still the boss, but they're like her minions," nodded the girl thoughtfully. "But what happens if there's another girl Red? Does she take over the job or do they rule together or what?"

"If a female Red is born, she is a Princess and destined to rule. She is only raised by the Browns in private until the first time she sheds her exoskeleton. After that, she would live with the queen and would be taught all that she must know to rule the Swarm. Sometimes they are sent to other locations to help the male Reds govern in the queen's name. It is meant to serve as way to gain experience and further knowledge. Once she matures, the old queen would step down to let the new one take a name and rule. From there, the old queen surrenders her name and merely advises the new one when necessary. It is the way it has always been and has served the Swarm well for generations."

"So I guess there aren't a lot of Red bug people born or hatched or whatever. Otherwise you'd be replacing your leader pretty often."

"Princesses rarely make it to full maturity. Quite often during the time they are being raised by the current queen, they are lost to the Swarm," stated Pua. "Disease, accidents, and other factors often claim them. Queen Soltus has been our ruler for one of the longest stretches of time due to the misfortune that befalls the young Reds. It is tragic, but at least we know that those who make it to maturity will be capable and durable enough to rule us well."

"Or at least they're better at escaping assassination attempts," Lilo muttered.

"What did you say?" hissed the Orange.

The girl crossed her arms, "Look, I don't know too much about this Queen Soltus person, but it sounds like she's taking out the competition so she can keep her job. I mean, it isn't like she's throwing them into a volcano, but I know how this works. If none of them grow up, then none of them will become queen and she can keep bossing everyone around."

She needed to stop talking. The human must stop saying such things. Even considering those ideas was dangerous. No one must question Queen Soltus, let alone accuse her of such actions. Purposefully harming future queens was not best for the Swarm and no Entolyterian would do something to weaken the Swarm. Even considering the possibility would ensure that they would be killed, ripped apart and devoured by the queen's guards.

"How many of those Princesses suffered 'mysterious accidents'? And so what if that means there's no one to take over whenever your queen gets old and dies someday? She doesn't care," Lilo continued to rant. "She just wants to be the boss and keep all her power. So what if there's no future for the Swarm? No future leader, no way to sustain your population long-term once you reach the point you can't conquer other planets fast enough, and you end up with a bunch of wimpy warrior or dumb scientists just because you pick out your jobs by appearance. Things are going to fall apart if you guys don't fix it. You can't keep this going forever and she obviously doesn't care."

" _Silence_ ," snapped Pua.

Her abrupt interruption and sharp tone was apparently enough to startle the girl into silence. The Orange took no pleasure in the surprised and mildly frightened look on the human's face. She was too busy trying to banish the child's words from her mind. They were treacherous words. They were ideas that could not be allowed to fester and grow. She needed them gone.

The Swarm was strong. The Swarm was unstoppable. The Swarm was perfect.

Queen Soltus was unquestionable. Queen Soltus was wise. Queen Soltus was perfect.

Doubts, concerns, and ideas that went against those unwavering and undeniable truths were not tolerated. It was the way everything was meant to be.

"Do not forget your place, human. You now belong to the Swarm. You are here on to serve our purposes. To serve Queen Soltus' purposes. You shall be studied. Your strengths, weaknesses, and abilities shall be determined. Information shall be obtained, either through questioning, tests by the Yellows, or by displayed behavior. You will provide the knowledge Queen Soltus desires and perhaps, if your world is decided to be useful, answers on how best to conquer your people. When we have decided that you have served that purpose fully and that we can learn no more from you, then you shall be disposed of properly. Your planet will only remain safe until it has been decided that we have enough information for a full-scale invasion. Once that begins, key points will be disabled from orbit via our spacecrafts while the rest of the planet will be overwhelmed by soldiers so that valuable resources can still be salvaged and collected for our use. Any survivors will be enslaved and placed under the control of some of the Browns. There they shall labor for the good of the Swarm and live with the knowledge that they belong at the lowest levels of our people, even below the Blues. So do not mistake anything we might say or do as a sign that you have any right to question Queen Soltus or the Swarm in such a blatant manner."

Her tone was sharp and harsh as her words, but Pua was afraid that she couldn't hide completely the hint of fear and anger at herself in her voice. She couldn't let the child's words affect her. She couldn't let her ideas corrupt her. She couldn't let herself think about what Lilo was saying. She couldn't admit that somewhere, deep down and barely realized until today…

…She'd also wondered why so many Princesses died in Queen Soltus' care.

"Fine," yelled Lilo, crossing her arms and turning her back on the Orange. "Just don't come crying to me when your entire species starts falling apart."

Trying to convince herself that she wasn't fleeing from the trapped child and her words, Pua walked out the way she came in. She needed to get nourishment. That was what she told herself. She was only going to get food. She wasn't running away from the human and her treacherous ideas.

"Hello there," her fellow Orange called as she stepped out of the prison chamber, interrupting her flurry of troubling thoughts. "I am rather surprised to see you were selected for this mission for Queen Soltus. This is quite an honor for you."

"Serving the Swarm in this manner is my duty and I shall fulfill it to the best of my capabilities. Guarding the human with a capability that our queen wishes to use is an important role."

"I meant that you should feel honored to be serving beside me," he corrected. "I have been selected to assist in guarding the human whenever you are called away or must complete other duties. It shall provide you the opportunity to see how well we work together and how I am the ideal mate. I keep explaining how we could produce the best offspring to serve the Swarm together, but you do not seem to believe me. If you were able to see me on a regular basis and could view my various qualities as a mate up close, you will certainly find that you agree with me. After all, the fact that you have not selected a mate and started providing young to increase the Swarm tells me that you will not settle for any mediocre Orange. You wish to have only the best available and I know that would be me."

She tried to keep her antennas from twitching with irritation at his words, but there was just enough truth in them to keep her from being able to ignore them completely. She should have chosen a mate already and begun providing future members to the Swarm. She'd already grown into a full mature adult of her species and there were always losses when invading a world, so it was important for females to start laying eggs as quickly and often as possible. She should have accepted a male by this point. It was her duty as a loyal and productive member of the Swarm. It might be all right for a Blue, a Brown, a Green, or even a Yellow to wait for a mate they might prefer, but Oranges were supposed to set a proper example with their actions because of their higher rank and importance than most members of the Swarm. She should select a strong, capable male as her mate. It was just as much her duty as it was to guard or to battle enemies.

And yet, she couldn't do it. She couldn't convince herself to accept a mate. All the male Oranges she encountered just didn't seem to be what she wanted. Even the knowledge that it was her duty to choose one wasn't enough to motivate her to pick one of them. She told herself that it would be better for the Swarm as a whole if she didn't settle for a mate who wasn't the best. And the one in front of her, while a skilled warrior and strong, was not someone she considered to be the best choice. She told herself it would be better in the long run if she waited, that she only had the interests of the Swarm in mind, but there was still a thread of doubt that she might instead selfishly desire a mate that she liked rather than the one that would be best for the group as a whole.

"You must be hungry by this point," he continued. "If you wish, I could locate us some nourishment and we could both guard the prisoner at the same time. It should not be too difficult to guard while in its cell. And it should not even be too distracting if you choose to discuss our future mating and when to proceed. It supposedly comes from a particularly primitive planet and likely would not understand anyway."

"She does speak Standard quite effectively and is very observant. It would not be wise to grow too distracted while performing our duty of guarding her," Pua corrected, giving her fellow Orange a steady look, "We are here to serve our queen as best as we can. We are intended to guard the human child, not search for our mates. Perhaps when we are no longer serving this role for Queen Soltus, we will determine our ideal mates to provide strong offspring for the Swarm. Until that point, it would be wise to remain focused on our current duty as guards for human child, Lilo, and to serve our queen as she has commanded."

His antennas drew back momentarily before he settled back into a more attentive position, "If that is what you wish, we can delay the topic for a little while. But once this task is complete, it shall need to be dealt with. Producing future warriors for the Swarm is also an important duty, after all. One that is both required of all members so that the Swarm can remain powerful and that can even be satisfying to perform."

He took a step towards her, his antennas flickering in her direction in a way that left no doubt that she held his complete attention and focus. That focus was quickly interrupted when he was abruptly smacked by the cleaning implement of a nearby Blue. The Orange male stumbled back, surprised by what happened, before he noticed what hit him and hissed.

With the speed that only an Entolyterian could manage, he struck. The clumsy Blue was instantly held tightly in his pinchers, yelping in pain as the spines dug into his exoskeleton. Pale green blood oozed slightly from the deeper punctures.

"Please pardon this insignificant one for his foolishness," he whimpered, antennas flattened and eyes dropping respectively to the ground. "No insult was meant. This insignificant one deserves death for the act, but it is solely up to the decision of the Oranges who were disturbed."

It was well within their right to kill the Blue for accidental collision. No one would even question them. But Pua was happy enough about the distraction.

"It would be best to let the Blue go," she said. "Killing him would leave a mess for another to clean and there is no guarantee the next would not repeat the mistake. Let the Blue go and go guard the girl. I will return when I am finished."

The Orange male hesitated for a moment, but he eventually released the cringing Blue from his pinchers. Then without another word, he entered the prison chamber and headed towards Lilo's cell. Pua had no doubts that by the time she returned, the Orange would be named by the human.

Speaking of names, the Blue that was awkwardly climbing off the floor looked vaguely familiar and it took her a moment to realize that it was the same one who brought Lilo food earlier. It was the one she named Kekoa. His continued presence nearby made her wonder briefly if he'd actually been sweeping before he bumped into the Orange male. She'd certainly been less than comfortable with the conversation and the timing that Kekoa had in regards to interrupting it was rather convenient.

Realizing that she was spending far more time thinking about a Blue than she should, Pua turned and headed away from him, Lilo, and the Orange male. For the moment, she wanted nothing to do with any of them.

Of course she'd known that particular Orange male. She'd seen him often enough. They were close to the same age, hatching within days of each other and being raised by the same group of Browns. She could recognize him easily by this point.

She was, however, surprised that he was still trying to gain her as his mate. There were plenty of other female Oranges who would be happy to accept him. He displayed all the obvious signs of a healthy and desirable male. His antennas were long and showed no signs of past breakage. His exoskeleton was smooth, firm, and wasn't damaged anywhere that she could see. In addition, it was a deep and intense shade of orange that left no ambiguity to where in the Swarm he belonged. His primary limbs were a decent size with sharp spines along the inside edge, promising that he was dangerous in close combat. His eyes were a vibrant yellow shade and showed enough focus that there was little chance that his mind was not as sharp as the spines on his primary limbs. Finally, his scent was easy to pick up with her antennas and it declared him to be a mature male in peak condition at the height of mating potential. It was a scent that should pull in any available mature females, but it merely left her annoyed.

He wanted her as a mate, but she knew he required her acceptance. Any male who wished to survive knew that mating with a female must be done carefully. Those that forgot that caution would be killed and eaten by the female, an act from the early days of their species that ensured that female would only lay eggs that belonged to the most powerful mate they could attract and one that still remained. None would question a female who killed and devoured one who pursued her and did not accept her refusal. The Swarm deserved only the best offspring and that meant the mates would have to be the best possible. It was the way everything was meant to be.

Of course, the human girl was making it far more difficult to merely accept the way things had always been was necessarily the way they should be. She kept saying things, pointing out ideas and problems, asking questions, and making a mess of what should be easily understood. Somehow, Lilo was making her wonder about things that she never did before. Pua was raised to accept everything about Queen Soltus and the Swarm without hesitation. She never had doubts before.

And yet she had almost nothing but doubts swirling around her head. There were far too many questions and she couldn't keep them buried and forgotten. It was wrong, but she couldn't stop. She had to do something before it was too late and she began to have truly treacherous thoughts.

Pua quickly turned towards a different hallway than before. She kept having questions and doubts. The only solution she could think of was to find answers. She would locate answers that would destroy the girl's arguments and supposed problems. And once she proved that the Swarm and Queen Soltus were perfect, those questions and doubts would be gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there were a few more named (though not shown) references to other alien species out there in the galaxy. I like the idea of lot of aliens out there, some who aren't part of the Federation and probably have never been anywhere near Earth. It helps make the place feel more populated. Hurray for world-building! Any of these alien names, species, or titles that you like that I come up with, feel free to borrow them. Just give me credit and have fun using them.
> 
> I also enjoyed writing a bit from Pua's point of view. It gives us a chance to see how an insectoid species would describe the appearance of a human. Which was kind of fun to try out. And yes, there were some references to cannibalism within the Swarm. It doesn't happen often and is mostly reserved for traitors of the highest caliber or guys who just don't understand the word "no", but they are based off of praying mantises and I decided to throw it in. And since they value the Swarm as a whole over the individual, they don't see it as a big deal.


	7. Discussions Around a Table

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there was a bit of a long wait for this chapter and my readers have been getting anxious. Sorry about that. But at least there's a new chapter for you now. I hope you like it. Granted, there is some fictional alien politics discussed in this chapter and that isn't necessarily the most exciting topic in the universe, but it serves a purpose.

While the last several years were filled with a variety of annoyances and disappointments, Captain Gantu of the Galactic Armada was rather satisfied with how his life turned out in the end. His present condition was certainly nice overall.

That didn't mean he didn't occasionally want to strangle Reuben. And it didn't eliminate his past frustrations with Stitch and how he'd wished hundreds of times that the experiment and the little girl would stop ruining his life and career. Even after they put their past hostilities aside and his title was reinstated, it didn't completely erase the memories of numerous humiliating defeats.

But all of that was in the past. He didn't always like the past, but he could accept it. And no matter how much of his past frustrated Gantu, that didn't mean he was happy about what happened to the little Earth girl.

Gantu marched down the hall with Reuben at his side, his ship barely docked before they hurried towards their goal. Even with how much the little girl interfered and hindered, he'd held quite a bit of respect for Lilo since near the beginning. Even when they were opposite sides when it came to collecting experiments, he felt some respect for the child. She and Stitch were surprisingly competent as a team. Gantu could admit it. And once he ended up on the same side, the child declared him part of the ohana and he realized that the respect he held for the pair also contained a certain amount of exasperated affection. So when someone chose to kidnap Lilo, he found himself taking it rather personal.

"Captain Gantu. Reuben," greeted one of the assistants that worked there. "The Grand Councilwoman said to expect your arrival and to direct you to Conference Room Four."

"Thanks," Reuben said with a short nod. "Is my cousin there already? And Jumba?"

The tiny, long-eared alien nodded and said, "They arrived earlier and are waiting inside."

"Lead the way then," he said.

The long-eared assistant was fast, but the sheer length of Gantu's stride ensured he was faster. And unlike Reuben, he already knew where Conference Room Four was located in the building. The door frames were a little low for him since his people tended to be taller than the average sentient species, but he easily ducked through when the doors slid open.

Around the thankfully-tall oval table were several familiar and worried faces. Dr. Jumba Jookiba and Pleakley were on one side of the table with four other experiments. The formerly-evil genius looked like he was silently festering with anger, though he didn't seem completely unhinged yet. The Plorgonarian was messing with a data-pad, anxiety making him stiffer than his noodle-like body should ever be. On the other side of the table were Stitch and an older human girl it took him a moment to recognize as Lilo's sister. He never really interacted with the older girl much. He barely knew her. But if she was even a fraction as concerned with ohana as her sister was, then she must be out of her mind with worry. She and the blue experiment certainly looked troubled by the situation.

Reuben, moving faster than he normally bothered, hurried over to Stitch. Grabbing the blue experiment's shoulders, Reuben turned him to face the chief galley officer. He stared at the heart-broken expression briefly before shaking his head regretfully.

"Oh, cousin," said Reuben solemnly. "You're not handling this well at all, are you?"

"Naga," Stitch replied quietly, his ears flattened.

Smiling encouragingly, he said, "Don't worry. Come on, this is Lilo we're talking about. She's tougher than she looks." Gesturing up towards Gantu, he continued, "She dealt with that big guy for years, with and without your help. She'll be fine until we find her."

"He's right. She is a formidable little Earth girl," said Gantu. Turning towards the older human girl, he nodded a greeting and said, "Ms. Pelekai."

"Just call me 'Nani.' Considering how many times you ripped the roof off my house, let's skip the formalities," she said firmly.

Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, Gantu said, "I am sorry about that."

"You're here to help my sister. I think we can get past it."

Stepping into the room and instantly commanding everyone's attention, the Grand Councilwoman said, "Now that we have all arrived, it is time to discuss the situation as it currently stands."

* * *

Stitch actually felt a little better with the arrival of Gantu and Reuben, which surprised him after spending so much time fighting them. Part of it might be the fact their arrival meant they were making progress towards finding Lilo. That's wasn't all of it, though. At the moment, Stitch didn't completely trust himself. There was too much worry, guilt, and anger rolling around his head alongside his destructive programming. He wanted to be good, but he couldn't completely trust his self-control. Not with Lilo in danger. Reuben, though lazy, might be able to stop him if he lost track of what was right. He could stop Stitch if he started doing things that Lilo couldn't forgive.

"So what do we know so far?" asked Gantu, standing beside the table since none of the available chairs were designed for his size.

"From Dr. Jookiba's interview with Dr. Hamsterviel, we have confirmation that Queen Soltus of the Swarm knew and expressed interest in Lilo shortly before she disappeared," said the Grand Councilwoman. "And Stitch's description supports the current working theory that the Entolyterians are responsible for kidnapping her."

"And how did you convince Dr. Hamsterviel to reveal anything to you?" asked Gantu.

Grinning in a rather vicious fashion, Jumba said, "I asked nicely and gave him no choice."

Stitch remembered how Jumba seemed when he returned from interrogating Hamsterviel. The tension in his body, the slightly faster heartbeat thumping loudly, and the aggression that could be smelled from the Keltikwan scientist made it clear that he was furious at his former partner. And the lingering scent of terrified Gerbillinite clinging to his hands suggested the conversation wasn't particularly nice or friendly. Even if Jumba didn't have destructive programming, he possessed the potential.

Honestly, Stitch wished he could have scared Hamsterviel a little too for getting her involved in this. It might have made him feel better. Or maybe not. Lilo would still be missing either way.

"For those of us who've never been off Earth before, could someone tell me exactly who the Swarm is? Because it might be nice to know a little more about who kidnapped my sister so I know who I need to beat over the head with a surfboard," Nani asked.

While Stitch momentarily visualized the older girl performing that exact sequence of events, Pleakley started messing with the data-pad he'd acquired upon arriving. He pressed a few buttons on the screen and a hologram appeared in the middle of the table. Everyone turned to look at the figure, Turian writing floating in midair beside it. Stitch gripped the edge of the table and instantly put his supercomputer-level brain to work on analyzing his enemy.

He knew what a praying mantis looked like, with the spiked pincher-like folded front legs, the long upright body divided into three segments, the triangle head with bulging eyes and long antennas, and the four thinner legs supporting the insect's weight. He could see the similarities between the Earth insect and the creature the kidnapped Lilo. He could also see the differences between the real bug and the holographic alien in front of him.

There were still six limbs, but only two of them could be considered legs. Not only were two of them the famous folded pincher-things that were found on praying mantises, but there were also two smaller ones that Stitch would definitely consider arms. They were thinner than the other limbs and ended with what appeared to be three fingers. The legs themselves were thicker in relation to the body than the legs of a real praying mantis would be.

Covered in the same hard substances as the rest of the alien, the leg seemed to be as thick as what Stitch would expect a human's leg to be and they ended in flattish two-toed feet. Across the chest, the exoskeleton didn't seem to be in a single solid piece. Instead, there were overlapping pieces extending from where the triangular head attached to the body all the way down the middle segment in a manner than reminded him of plate armor on a knight. Unlike when he watched small insects, Stitch could see slight movement as the holographic recording breathed. The creature was probably more flexible that way than if it was in one solid piece of exoskeleton, which would have hindered the evolution of lungs.

Finally, the mouth wasn't a set of mandibles like he expected an insect to have. There was an almost beak-like structure. It sort of reminded Stitch of what she might see on the face of a species of bird, but not quite the more colorful or common ones. It was shorter and thicker in shape with just a slight curve at the tip like how the beak of a predatory bird might be.

The joints of the limbs would be weak points, more vulnerable to breaking than the rest. The exoskeleton would be easier to snap and crack since they needed flexibility there to move. The leg joints would be the most effective to break because the weight of their body would assist in the destruction if he hit right. Getting his claws under the overlapping segments of the body would also be effective, letting him pry pieces loose and get to the more vulnerable internal structures. The large eyes would give them a wide view of vision, but would also be an easy target. Their eyes and antenna would be easy to damage. Getting past their pincher-shaped claws would be trickier, but the neck could probably be another weak point similar to the joints of their limbs.

Stitch shook his head sharply, forcibly dragging his mind away from that entire train of thought. Those ideas made him feel uncomfortable and wrong. He knew better than that. He wasn't bad. He was good. He was _good_ now. And yet his destructive programming kept bringing those plans into his mind. And there was no escaping those thoughts completely. He was built to be a living weapon and his current turbulent emotions fed into those destructive impulses.

He didn't want those thoughts. He didn't want to be a monster. But Stitch couldn't deny that, knowing the Swarm took Lilo and he couldn't protect her, there was a certain amount of vindictive pleasure of the idea of tearing them apart. And that terrified him.

"I'm not expert on them, but I know enough to know they're bad news. The Swarm isn't part of the United Galactic Federation and they're usually careful not to attack our planets," Pleakley reported. "They go after other worlds, conquering and enslaving the locals while claiming the planet's natural and manufactured resources for their own needs. They have a very strict system in place that assigns everyone's place in their society. They value the collective far above the individual. Only their leader has a name while everyone else doesn't matter enough to have them. And the Swarm literally has only one purpose: conquest. Their entire society is built on conquering other species. Any peace between Entolyterians and the United Galactic Federation is an uneasy one."

"They are powerful and dangerous, individually or as an army," continued Gantu, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "If it wasn't for the Galactic Armada, I suspect they would have tried their luck with some of the outer planets of the United Galactic Federation a long time ago. But for now, the risk would be too great for them. And we're not prepared to commit to an all-out war against the Swarm. It would be costly for both sides and there is no certainty who the victors would be."

"Which is why it is so surprising to find out the Swarm took our ambassador for Earth," said the Grand Councilwoman. "That was a bold move. A dangerous one. If it was for any other planet, that would be an almost instant declaration of war."

Leaning forward in her seat a little, Nani asked, "And why isn't it in this case?"

"Well, technically Earth is considered a protected wildlife preserve instead of a full member of the alliance. It isn't one of the signatories," Pleakley said uneasily. "That leaves the situation a little… uncertain. They can claim her removal from Earth didn't violate any treaties since the planet isn't covered by them. But she's also a representative of the United Galactic Federation because she was elected to serve as an ambassador. The question is which is more important: Earth's status in the alliance or her status in the federation?" Fidgeting nervously, he said, "That's one of the big problems with proceeding. Figuring out if kidnapping an United Galactic Federation-elected ambassador who represents a planet not directly covered by the alliance counts as a valid violation of our treaties and to what extent our response should be… That could take weeks for the Federation Council to make a ruling on."

"Weeks?" said Nani. "Are you telling me that my little sister could be prisoner for a bunch of giant bugs for _weeks_?"

With a disgusted expression, Jumba muttered, "That's politics. Why do you think I ignored them for years?"

Stitch, Reuben, Splodyhead, Slushy, Kixx, and Slugger all raised a hand, paw, or wing. They were all pretty good reasons for why he preferred to ignore authority figures. And it had nothing to do with impatience. The evil genius merely shrugged in response.

"Too many laws tend to being restrictive of my creativity."

"Regardless of Dr. Jookiba's previous issues and opinions the Federation Council, I'm afraid there is a limit of what we can officially do in the immediate future," said the Grand Councilwoman, her expression rather regretful. "I've looked into what are options are, hoping to find an obscure law or an ancient precedent of use in this situation. But the official actions available are what I suspected they would be. We can contact Queen Soltus through proper channels and request the return of our ambassador. She may choose to release her when she learns that the United Galactic Federation is aware of her actions. Queen Soltus may not be ready to court war with us quite yet."

She is not likely to be returning Little Girl that easily," Jumba said. "Hamsterviel says she wants to be learning Little Girl's secret on how she turned experiments from bad to good. She is to be wanting that power for herself so she can use it for her own diabolical purposes. She will more likely pretend Little Girl isn't there so she can keep her."

Stitch and his cousins exchanged confused looks at the entire idea. What Lilo did wasn't a power or a rare skill. It wasn't a trick someone could learn by studying the little Hawaiian girl. Lilo didn't hypnotize them into being good or rewrote their programming. What she did to change them was harder to describe exactly and yet simpler.

She tried to find way for them to belong and experience meaningful lives that gave them real purpose. She saw them more than just experiments and living weapons. They weren't just destruction and chaos to her. She saw their potential as individuals with identities that were more than just numbers on a list of Jumba's creations. She opened their eyes and showed them what they could be. She was kind, patient, and caring. She accepted them completely and unconditionally as family. She made them an ohana. She made them _more_.

Then there was something else that none of them could truly explain, describe, or understand properly. None of the experiments could really talk about it because it was so hard to comprehend beyond just knowing it was true. There was just some element about her that made it easier to ignore instincts and programming, something unique that sparked a desire to be better. When she wanted you to be good, to be part of her ohana… it filled an emptiness inside you never noticed was there before.

Lilo didn't trick or brainwash them to be something they weren't. She didn't force them to start acting good. What she did, no one else in the universe could match or copy exactly. Lilo did it by simply being Lilo. And by being Lilo, she changed everything.

Stitch closed his eyes briefly, thinking about her somehow making his misery even worse. He missed her. He missed her in ways he couldn't describe in any language. He needed her back.

"Well, the queen is a complete blubber head if she thinks she can figure out how to be like Lilo," said Reuben. "That's impossible. We figured out she's pretty unique years ago. Not even Hamsterwheel's plans were that stupid."

"Didn't say it was a smart plan. It is just being what she is wanting," said Jumba with a shrug. "She is being unlikely to let Little Girl go."

"If Queen Soltus will not admit to having our ambassador and return her promptly, the matter will be brought before the Federation Council," the Grand Councilwoman continued. "Any direct form of action against the Swarm could be viewed as an act of war and I cannot risk declaring a war without the approval of the entire council. If the first attempt for a peaceful resolution to our missing ambassador does not work, the council shall try to agree on a more proactive solution. Our ambassador—"

"Lilo," snapped Nani, a sharp edge to her voice making Stitch's muscles tense. He could smell her anger and hear her pounding heart, declaring her desire for a verbal fight and it was feeding into his instincts to physically attack something in response to his stress. "She's not just some ambassador. She's my nine-year-old little sister. She's alone. She's been kidnapped and taken to another planet because Lilo just happens to get along with Jumba's experiments. Anything could happen to her. Anything could be happening _right now_. And all you can do is ask the kidnappers nicely or check with the council thing, which Pleakley said could take weeks? No. We can't leave Lilo for that long. She needs to be saved _now_."

"Hold on, lady," Reuben interrupted, half crawling on the table in order to get her attention. "Nani, right? You've got a temper to match Gantu on a bad day. Of course, you've got a good reason. But take a deep breath and calm down. You've got to read between the lines." Glancing back towards the Grand Councilwoman, he continued, "You said that's all you can 'officially' do. So what's the less official option?"

Stitch noticed the older girl lose some of her fury, surprise and hope driving away some of the scent of aggression. He almost wished that the entire place didn't have the same unnatural cleanness of a spaceship's life support system. Then he could focus on smells other than everyone's heightened emotional state. The scent of aggression and fear did little to help him control his own turbulent emotional state. He missed the salty tang of the ocean that always floated on the breeze at home, a background aroma that could be detected everywhere on the island and a smell of normalcy that he sorely needed.

As Nani calmed down, she looked towards the Grand Councilwoman with a questioning expression. The Tweslyroden wore a rather mysterious and slightly mischievous smile. The expression vaguely reminded him of when she changed his banishment to staying on Earth when provided the right excuse. Stitch approved. The Grand Councilwoman might be the one who focused on the rules, but it was clear she understood loopholes.

"Due to the fact most of you call Earth your home and have dwelt there for over two years, you're considered to be residents of that planet. That includes not only Ms. Pelekai, but also Dr. Jookiba, Agent Pleakley, and all the experiments," said the Grand Councilwoman.

"Dual citizenship for Earth and Keltikwan," Jumba said with a nod. "Handled the paperwork ages ago when it became clear we would to be staying there permanently."

"Earth is not a true signatory of the alliance. Any actions you might take against the Swarm would not be considered an 'official' response from the United Galactic Federation," she continued. "It wouldn't be considered an act of war for the same reason that kidnapping Lilo wasn't." Turning towards the rest of the group, the Grand Councilwoman said casually, "Captain Gantu, I believe you and Reuben are due for some… vacation time. And we can't dictate how members of the Galactic Armada choose to spend their vacation while off-duty. At least, not when they aren't using armada resources."

Grinning up at his taller companion, Reuben said, "I hear Entolytera is nice this time of year. Feel like paying it a visit? Unofficially?"

"I think that would be a very useful and productive way to spend our vacation time," Gantu said with a nod.

"If a couple of you wish to remain here, you might be able to help convince the Federation Council to take swifter action. Pleading your case personally could help," said the Grand Councilwoman. "As for everyone else, I'll leave it up to you what actions you decide to take. I can't tell you that a single ship might be able to avoid detection if it was no larger than Captain Gantu's personal vessel and equipped with something to scramble their scanning equipment."

"I could throw something together," Jumba muttered. "Give me fifteen minutes."

They were doing it. They knew where to look, who took her, and why. They were moving forward, going after Lilo properly. They had a plan to save her. Multiple plans, actually. Diplomacy and more direct methods. They would get her back. They would save her. She would be fine.

Stitch repeated those reassurances in his head as he pried his claws out of the grooves he'd accidentally torn in the table by gripping too hard. He wasn't even sure when he started to tighten his hold on the table. Probably when Nani had her outburst. Thankfully, the table was metal instead of wooden like some of the furniture at home. Wood would have splintered and cracked in his grip. The metal surface just tore where his claws tightened, leaving the rest of the surface undamaged. Hopefully they could fix it later.

"I'm not going to be much help in a fight. And we all know it'll be a fight when we go there to find her," said Pleakley. "But I might be able to help talk to the Federation Council. If it comes to it, I mean."

Stitch couldn't argue with that idea. He knew Pleakley would try his best to help, but infiltrating a hostile planet and fighting off threats during a rescue mission weren't really his strong suits. He didn't even have the greatest aim with a weapon. If members of the Swarm were as dangerous as they were being made out to be, Stitch suspected they would spend more time protecting Pleakley than finding Lilo. It would be safer for him to stay here. Besides, he knew more about the Galactic Federation and their rules than the rest of them, so he could probably do the most good here. It would be better than having _Jumba_ told to the Federation Council.

But thinking about how unsuited Pleakley would be for the rescue mission, Stitch realized someone else shouldn't come. And he knew he would have to say something about it.

"Nani stay too," he said carefully.

The older girl spun around to face the experiment beside her. Stitch met her gaze firmly. He wouldn't back down. He wouldn't bend to her wishes with this. No matter how she reacted, Nani couldn't come along.

"Excuse me?" said Nani in a dangerous tone, the type of voice that preceded her grounding troublesome members of the household on occasion.

Flattening his ears, he said, "Nani stay. Help Pleakley. Please?"

Something in his voice must have caught her attention because some of the fire died down in her eyes. Nani stared at him as if searching for answers. Then she leaned forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Why do you want me to stay?" she asked quietly.

Stitch tried to focus on the words he wanted to use. Whether it was called English or Standard, it took more effort to speak it. His mind was wired for Tantalog. He needed to focus carefully when discussing more difficult concepts. Lilo understood some Tantalog and could figure out his meaning with only a few English words. Nani only knew a handful of Tantalog and needed longer phrases. And while Jumba could probably translate, Stitch wanted to handle it. This felt too important.

"The Swarm too dangerous. You don't fight. You don't hunt cousins. You take care. You…," he paused, trying to phrase it correctly, and said, "help make our house _home_. Important, but different. Nani, please stay. Don't want you hurt." Glancing down, Stitch said, "Don't want to tell Lilo her sister hurt by the Swarm. Don't want to lose anyone else either. Please help Pleakley and stay safe."

When he looked back up, Nani's expression was difficult for him to read. He wasn't completely sure what she was thinking. He didn't want her to come. His cousins were durable, Jumba was relatively sturdy, and Gantu's sheer mass made him tough. Humans were different. They were fragile with weak senses and no protection. And Nani didn't have the experience that Lilo did when it came to hostile and powerful opponents. The Swarm could hurt Nani. Break her. _Kill her_. It would be so easy for the older girl to be harmed, shattering under the slightest pressure or crumbling from a single blow.

Stitch once again dragged his thoughts away from what information his supercomputer-level brain provided. Thinking about how vulnerable Nani would be against an army of Entolyterians could easily lead him to considering how vulnerable Lilo was. And there was no one to protect her. She was alone…

"Okay," said Nani, regaining his complete focus. "I'll stay and help Pleakley talk to the council people. But you have to promise to bring back my baby sister."

Stitch nodded and said, "Ih. Promise. Lilo is ohana."

"And as we all know, ohana means nobody gets left behind," said Reuben. "So there's no chance we'll leave her behind." He chuckled briefly and added, "That Queen Soltus person and her Swarm really don't know what they've brought on themselves."

He sounded confident and unconcerned, but Stitch heard the slight undertone that made Reuben's words ring hollow. And a quick glance at Gantu proved that golden-furred experiment didn't fool him either. His cousin was just as smart as Stitch. Reuben could figure out the same fears and concerns that plagued Stitch. He knew anything could happen to Lilo before they could reach her. Anything could have _already_ happened. But just as Stitch struggled and tried not to think about it, Reuben clearly chose to remain in denial and hopeful.

It was better that way. Believing they could save Lilo was better than the alternative. They would save her in time. Any other outcome was unthinkable.

**Author's Note:**

> There is also a TvTropes page, in case you're interested.
> 
> http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/Aloha


End file.
